Fresno police to use gunshot-detection technology

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno police will soon start using a new technology which can detect exactly where gunshots are fired from. The software is expected to track down violent gang members.

For more than two weeks, officers have patrolled high-crime neighborhoods to find violent criminals. On day 17 of a strategic sweep, they arrested more than 350 known gang members and pulled 62 illegal guns from local neighborhoods.

Juanita Morrison says she was so close to being hurt by stray bullets last year. "They shot through my house twice," she said. "It was dangerous because it could have killed anybody in that house."

Police will now use a new technology called ShotSpotter which pinpoints where a shooter pulls the trigger.

"We will be able to more quickly locate gunshot victims in order to save their lives, and secondly the faster we can get to a call, the more likely we are able to apprehend the suspects responsible for that shooting," said Chief Jerry Dyer.

Dyer says the software could have been crucial to helping investigators find the suspects who hit an innocent teenager while looking for a rival gang member.

"When I think about a 16-year-old girl in the prime of her life who gets shot in the back of her head and is not expected to survive. Why? What gives anybody the right to do that?" said Dyer.

The technology is already being used in other cities including San Francisco. Officers will hide sensors in three test sites in Fresno to gather information on how many rounds were fired and if different caliber weapons were used in any violent attacks.