"Gadgets on Patrol Against Crime"

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has been testing new technology in the areas of using non-lethal force, stopping fleeing vehicles, and detecting concealed weapons. One high-tech system, being tested in a one square bile area of Willowbrook, is the ShotSpotter, which detects gunfire, traces the shot to its precise location and all but immediately dispatches officers to the scene. The testing program does not cost the taxpayers with its zero dollar budget allocation; still, companies offer the technology free of charge in exchange for possible high-profile media coverage and the opportunity for law enforcement agents to help fine-tune the equipment. Although the technology will lead to more arrests at first, some law enforcement officials hope that the truly effective technology will eventually deter people from committing a crime in the first place.

(Los Angeles Times (06/09/00); Cuza, Bobby; courtesy the NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary).