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The contract to use the technology ended in 2019 and the City is aware that the Metro Police requested that it be renewed.
CAPE TOWN – A law enforcement expert said Monday that Cape Town would be better off putting the ShotSpotter project aside for good.
The decision not to use the high-tech system has drawn criticism.
The multi-million dollar system uses technology to detect the sound of a gunshot and then alerts the police through a centralized monitoring system.
At the time, it was hailed as a potential game changer for gun violence in the Cape Flats.
But police surveillance expert at the African Center for Security and Intelligence Praxis Eldred De Klerk said it would never be a silver bullet.
“The city seems to want to invest in technology rather than invest in a relationship with the communities, which is much more valuable.”
The contract to use the technology ended in 2019 and the City is aware that the Metro Police requested that it be renewed.
But, budget cuts related to the pandemic meant those plans had to be shelved.
The opposition political parties now want to know why the decision to stop the project was kept so quiet.
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