Durham City Council voted down renewing a $225,000 gunshot detection system amid sharp debate over whether police resources or community programs better reduce violence.
City Council rejected renewing a $225,000 ShotSpotter gunshot detection system after a Duke study found it improved police response time by 1.2 minutes but showed no measurable impact on arrests or violence reduction.
Resident Jante Dunson criticized the council for voting down the gunshot detection system in under five minutes while spending an hour on unrelated items, citing three drive-by shootings in his neighborhood within 24 hours.
Police reported 49 homicides in 2023 with a 71.4 percent clearance rate, while motor vehicle thefts surged 134 percent and robberies fell 3.79 percent compared to the prior year.