Live gunshots will test new sensors in east Denver tonight

(Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

staff photo

The Denver Police Department will oversee testing of the ShotSpotter network of sensors in east Denver tonight, April 4, from 7:30 to 11 p.m.

The test will include live gunfire but no danger to the public, according to police. It will test newly installed equipment in the city’s gunfire detection network.

The test will range across East Colfax, Lowry, Montclair and South Park Hill. Gunshots will be fired into bullet traps — not the air or the ground. The test will last from 7:30 to 11 p.m. in order to realistically capture the most common conditions for gunshots.

The system uses acoustic sensors to detect when and where guns are fired. It can alert 911 within a minute of an incident, according to police.

Denver police began using the technology in 2015, and it has since detected nearly 3,400 gunshots, “resulting in approximately 102 arrests and 84 guns recovered,” per police.

This is the fourth time that the city has expanded the system.

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