On Wednesday, Dotson confirmed the system has been available for only “limited use” since August.

While the ShotSpotter system wasn’t available for “real-time” use, he said officers could still get forensic data out of the program to help with investigations. Dotson said the problem was that “money was cut out of the budget,” but that he expected the “contract will be resolved this week.”

“People could still call 911,” the chief said.

But that’s not how things work in many of the neighborhoods that need the system most.

“Unfortunately, not everyone calls the police when they hear gunshots,” Taylor said.

That’s definitely the case in the Gravois Park and Dutchtown neighborhoods in Spencer’s ward, she said. And while some people do call, they often do so in their homes, away from the windows, so their descriptions of what they hear and where they heard it are nearly always less accurate than ShotSpotter, which has embedded microphones that can pinpoint gunfire to within a few feet.