Council Approves ShotSpotter Plan

In a 5-2 vote Monday, the City Council approved a one-year contract with ShotSpotter, the gunshot detection company that has been wooing the city for a year.

Since a flurry of urgency in 2010 to buy into the system for $1 million, the cost has dropped to $169,000 for a one-year lease, which the city expects to make up with a $250,000 technology grant. Hesitation had centered initially not just on the cost, but whether the city should try more pro-active approaches to gun violence, such as youth education and employment to avoid gang involvement.

On Monday, Councilman William Reid held out for other public safety approaches and voted "no." Councilwoman Rebecca Williams voted "no," based in part on receiving just Thursday the ShotSpotter contract that she said the administration had in hand since July 12. Williams also felt the council had not been given enough information on which to base a decision.

Among those who voted "yes," Councilman Cory Storch said he still had concerns and had hoped for "something more than a half-assed evaluation." Continuing the program after the grant-funded first year "will be at the expense of police salaries," he said.

Councilwoman Vera Greaves said she wanted data at the end of the year on how well the program worked, while Council President Annie McWilliams said she agreed with a resident that the gunshot detection program was "just a small piece of the puzzle" of public safety.

"But it is part of the puzzle," she said, though also wanting to see results from the one-year contract.

Councilwoman Bridget Rivers, an advocate since the first mention of the program, and Councilman Adrian Mapp also voted "yes."

The city will be reimbursed for the program's cost through the $250,000 grant from the state Edward Byrne Memorial Criminal Justice Assistance Grant. In public comment before the vote, Dr. Harold Yood called the system "Dick Tracy gimmickry" and said the key to the operation is security cameras which are not included. Acting City Administrator David Kochel said the balance of the grant, plus Union County Improvement Authority funding, bonding and Urban Enterprise Zone funds, will be used for training and equipment for police cars as well as cameras, with links to CCTV systems including those of the Housing Authority of Plainfield, NJ Transit and the Board of Education.

Resident Owen Fletcher urged approval of the ShotSpotter program, noting a recent incident in which a gunman fired toward a city pool in use by children.

"Frankly, I'm just horrified," he said.

Fletcher said there had to be a "whole community effort" toward public safety and police had to have all the tools they need.

"I don't know that people feel safe - I don't feel safe," he said, adding he would have approved the ShotSpotter program for $1 million.

In another gun-related matter, Police Director Martin Hellwig reported that a church-based buyback program had taken "60 guns off the street." The city spent $5,300 out of $20,000 allocated from the city's special law enforcement trust fund with the state for the program, which took place on two Saturdays and involved six churches as drop-off points.

--Bernice