ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – The Elmira City Council held a workshop meeting to discuss several votes that will be happening Monday, August 26 at 5:30 p.m.
The council will vote on authorizing the purchase of a new gunshot detection system. Police Chief Kristen Thorne told council members the plan is to install a network of 40 microphones around the city. Chief Thorne says the system will cut down on police response times to shooting scenes. Chief Thorne says the system is designed to tell the difference between a gunshot and fireworks, or a car backfiring.
Mayor Mandell told 18 News the system does not pick up any other sounds, like conversations. “It strictly picks up sounds relating to gunshots based on the decibel sound that the gunshot makes, to distinguish it between gunshots and possible fireworks. So that’s what the actually the program does. It’s very beneficial for the police department to pinpoint where these shots are happening so they can respond quicker and catch the perpetrators of that are shooting the guns.”…