AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JULY 2017 13 they can check warrants, search for information about wanted or missing persons, and view all Crime Stoppers information, only a click away. Using a phone application called Translator, officers can translate 50 of New York City’s most prevalent foreign languages, whether spoken or written. The city is a vast melting pot, and Translator provides a much needed tool to offi- cers working in some of the most diverse neighborhoods in the nation. The phones support neigh- borhood policing by making officers more accessible to the public, and also by enabling more effective communica- tion and collaboration among the cops themselves. Under the neighborhood policing model, at least 12 officers share responsibility for a sector within a precinct: five two-officer teams work- ing each of the three daily shifts with coverage for days off, and two neighborhood coordinating officers. In the past, officers tended to focus only on their own shifts and could not readily communi- cate with officers on other shifts, especially since most officers did not have email addresses or phones. Now these officers, who all have vested interest in their shared sectors, can be in continual contact. Their work as a crime fighting and problem-solv- ing team is greatly facilitated by regular email and phone communication among all 12 team members. ShotSpotter Changes Landscape for Violent Gun Offenders Arecent crime-fighting initiative is the imple- mentation of ShotSpotter, a technology that detects and identifies the locations of gunshots. The NYPD launched a pilot program in 2015, deploying ShotSpot- ter in several precincts in the Bronx and Brooklyn that were experiencing high levels of violence and gun crime. The technology identifies and analyzes the sound of gunshots using tiny, strate- gically-placed sensors that immediately triangulate the location of the shots and send data and audio to ITB’s Domain Awareness System (DAS). The Chief of Department’s Operations Unit dispatches ShotSpotter alerts to patrol units in the field. ShotSpotter Technology provides a monitoring re- view service — 24 hours a day, seven days a week — to which all possible gunshot re- cordings are sent and where they are reviewed by trained audio experts, capable, in some cases, of determining the number of shooters and types of firearms. These experts relay all vital information back to the department and to officers on patrol. Between 75 and 80 percent of shots-fired incidents in New York City go unreport- ed, so ShotSpotter is adding another critical component to the ongoing effort to control gun crime. Shots fired are often indica- tors that shootings, and pos- sibly homicides, will follow in the same general locations. ShotSpotter alerts allow officers to move swiftly to scene of shots fired to sup- press further violence, to gather ballistic evidence, to locate relevant surveillance video, and to canvass the neighborhood for people who may have seen or heard something. Any of this evidence might prove decisive when investi- gators are trying to build a case against gang members or other violent criminals in the area. The department’s deploy- ment of the ShotSpotter tech- nology is currently entering its third phase, and will soon cover 60 square miles of the New York City neigh- borhoods with ShotSpotter sensors. The neighborhoods covered, within each of the Changing the game with new systems, tools five geographical boroughs, are some of those most af- fected by gun violence, based on analysis of shooting and 911 data. Reprinted from the NYPD News website. Officers with the New York City Police Dept. with their new Department-issued smartphones are on the cutting edge as far as using new technologies to fight crime and deter threats. www.desantisholster.com 800-GUNHIDE 631-841-6300 Dept #AP77 431 Bayview Ave., Amityville, NY 11701 MSRP Style M44 3999 $ WITHOUT FLAP WITH FLAP STICKS ALMOST LIKE FLY PAPER ® SUPER FLY SUPER FLY ‡ 5HPRYDEOHUHYHUVLEOHRXWHUÁDSWRIXUWKHU   GLVJXLVHÀUHDUP ‡ +ROVWHUZLOOQRWPRYHRXWRISRVLWLRQLQSRFNHW ‡ $YDLODEOHIRUPRVWSRFNHWJXQV ‡ 6SHFLDOSRO\PHULQVHUWSUHYHQWVPROGLQJ ‡+LJKULGH2:%,:%KROVWHU ‡'HWDLOPROGLQJRQRXWHUSRUWLRQ ‡3UHIRUPHGZLWKDFXUYHGEDFNIRUFRPIRUW FRQFHDODELOLW\ ‡,QWXLWLYHVHOIORFNLQJGHYLFH SL RAPTOR ™ MSRP Style 147 8399 $