5 20-0421 Subject: OPD Shotspotter Contract
From: Oakland Police Department
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator Or Designee To 1) Enter Into A Professional Services Agreement With Shotspotter, Inc. For Gunshot Location Detection Service Coverage, Subject To The Availability Of Funds And Approval By The City Council Of The Funds In The Oakland Police Department's Baseline Budget Proposal, For: A. Oakland Police Department (OPD) Shotspotter Geographic Area "Phase I" For April 19, 2020 Through June 30, 2020 For Nineteen Thousand, Four Hundred Forty-Eight Dollars ($19,448); B. OPD Shotspotter Areas Phases I, II, And III, From July 1, 2020 To June 30, 2021, For An Amount Not To Exceed Five Hundred Seventy-Two Thousand, Five Hundred Sixty-Two Dollars ($572,562); C. OPD Shotspotter Areas Phase I, II, And III, From July 1, 2021 To June 30, 2022, For An Amount Not To Exceed Six Hundred One Thousand, One Hundred Ninety Dollars ($601,190); D. OPD Shotspotter Areas Phase I, II, And III, From July 1, 2022 To June 30, 2023, For An Amount Not To Exceed Six Hundred Thirty-One Thousand, Two Hundred Forty-Eight Dollars ($631,248); For A Total Amount Not To Exceed One Million Eight Hundred Twenty-Four Thousand, Four Hundred Forty-Eight Dollars ($1,824,448) For OPD Shotspotter Area Phase I For April 19, 2020 To June 30, 2020 And All Three OPD Shotspotter Phases For July 1, 2020 To June 30, 2023; And 2) Waive The Competitive Request For Proposal/ Qualifications (RFP/Q) Process, The Advertising And Bidding Requirements, And Local And Small Local Business (L/SLB) Enterprise Program Provisions For The Contracts With Shotspotter, Inc.
As a resident of District 1, I absolutely oppose this expansion of police surveillance powers at a time when the whole community is crying out for a wiser reinvestment of funds. I also urge you to review the EFF's work on gunshot detection technology at https://www.eff.org/pages/gunshot-detection.
This program is a waste of our resources and an example of the type of spurious "911 call" that OPD can then use to justify its funding. If the city council claims to need more data before they can consider defunding the OPD by half, then they DEFINITELY need more data before continuing to invest in this technology which only creates more problems. It is not preventative, it is not responding to a community need, it literally automates distress and generates it in spaces where people may not be experiencing it. It is no preventative, it is not smart, and this tech company does not need our money: our children do. Do not support this. Let's reinvest in the community.
Another absurd waste of city resources. Funds being used to fuel a surveillance system that is unneeded and unwanted by the community. Your own evidence demonstrates this as only 3% of shots are reported to the police. These are funds that can be diverted back into our community, to schools, homeless programs, or other social services. As the majority of the city calls for de-funding the police force you want to spend over a million dollars on surveillance software, unacceptable.
As a taxpayer to the City of Oakland for over 10 years, I'd like to see us allocate OPD funds towards the root cause of all the city's issues. Let's invest in homeless services, mental health service, public health. It's a known fact that OPD doesn't even come when you call them or they don't even answer 911 calls, so why am I paying for this when it's not reliable or dependable? And when they do show up, they're not trained to operate their violent weapons, putting us all in danger.
My name is Trishula. I live in District 1 (I'm watching you, Councilperson Kalb). Please divert these funds for Oakland Schools, Parks and Affordable Housing. This technology will not support, help nor protect our Black and Brown Oaklanders. Do not give police money or power to infiltrate and harm my community. https://globalnews.ca/news/4344093/controversial-gunshot-detector-shotspotter-toronto-police/
I strongly oppose this measure that does nothing to balance our burgeoning OPD budget while leaving Black communities behind. Use this budget allocation to fund the Black New Deal in full.
I am a District 1 resident, and I am writing to oppose this measure along with my fellow residents. This spending should be reallocated to housing, healthcare, mental health services, education, and other community support initiatives, not to building out the capacity of OPD.
I strongly oppose this measure. People in Oakland (and in cities around the country) are calling for divestment from police departments and reduction of police interaction with residents, due to the constant unjustified killing of Black people by law enforcement and the racist history of policing in America. This proposal does the exact opposite, funding a surveillance program that would only increase police involvement in the community. The shockingly low proportion of 911 calls vs shots detected does not indicate a need for increased police presence and surveillance technology, as the OPD's report would indicate. It demonstrates a deep, justified mistrust in the OPD to de-escalate dangerous situations and promote safety. This City Council should defund the police and think creatively about how other grassroots and community-led institutions can fill functions formerly carried out by police.
I am an Oakland resident in district 1, and I'm at a complete loss to explain why this item is even being considered right now. We are in the middle of a pandemic requiring significant cuts to the budget, OPD has recent abused their power and their weaponry during the protest, and we are in the middle of an unprecedented community request to DEFUND the police. Please do not approve this request to allocate more funds to OPD.
I am a District 2 resident, and I oppose this measure. As stated within the report, only 3% of recorded gunfire incidents are ever reported to the OPD, which shows how little the community trusts the OPD to handle these incidents without further escalation. I urge you not to continue this contract, and to use these funds to invest in other community services, such as education, housing, and healthcare initiatives.
I am a resident of District 1 and would like to see this item further delayed. The Supplemental Report from the Administration is insufficiently detailed: it should provide numbers of incidents where shells were recovered at the scene, vs incidents where officers were deployed and no evidence was collected, vs incidents when no officers were deployed. The Administrator has not yet demonstrated to a reasonable standard that this is a use of funds that would improve the safety of the people of Oakland.
I am a District 2 resident opposing this measure. The fact that in this report "OPD data has shown that citizens only called OPD 3% of the time to report gunfire compared to the number of SS activations" shows how much the community does not trust and cannot rely upon the police. And why should we when we know they are unable to deescalate situations? Calling the police is not safe for our communities. Do not spend more money on tech for OPD. This will not make our communities safer, this is a bad investment.
District 2 resident. Here to add another comment to oppose this measure. Other commenters have articulated reasons and provided sources for the myriad of reasons why this should not be passed. Shotspotter doesn't work. Stop spending my tax dollars on OPD. ALSO, WHY HAVE THE PREVIOUS COMMENTS DISAPPEARED?
OPD itself admits that it "cannot not pinpoint direct causal impacts on gunfire activity in Oakland from use of Shotspotter." Don't waste money on a measure that doesn't work, particularly when Oakland residents are calling for you to reduce OPD's budget by 50%. Increasing funding for OPD does not improve community safety or well-being. I am a resident of District 1 and I urge you to vote against this measure.
As a resident of District 1, I absolutely oppose this expansion of police surveillance powers at a time when the whole community is crying out for a wiser reinvestment of funds. I also urge you to review the EFF's work on gunshot detection technology at https://www.eff.org/pages/gunshot-detection.
Has the Shotspotter software been distinguishing between firecrackers and gunshots the past few weeks?
I oppose giving additional funds to OPD. Please fund schools and parks instead.
This program is a waste of our resources and an example of the type of spurious "911 call" that OPD can then use to justify its funding. If the city council claims to need more data before they can consider defunding the OPD by half, then they DEFINITELY need more data before continuing to invest in this technology which only creates more problems. It is not preventative, it is not responding to a community need, it literally automates distress and generates it in spaces where people may not be experiencing it. It is no preventative, it is not smart, and this tech company does not need our money: our children do. Do not support this. Let's reinvest in the community.
Another absurd waste of city resources. Funds being used to fuel a surveillance system that is unneeded and unwanted by the community. Your own evidence demonstrates this as only 3% of shots are reported to the police. These are funds that can be diverted back into our community, to schools, homeless programs, or other social services. As the majority of the city calls for de-funding the police force you want to spend over a million dollars on surveillance software, unacceptable.
As a taxpayer to the City of Oakland for over 10 years, I'd like to see us allocate OPD funds towards the root cause of all the city's issues. Let's invest in homeless services, mental health service, public health. It's a known fact that OPD doesn't even come when you call them or they don't even answer 911 calls, so why am I paying for this when it's not reliable or dependable? And when they do show up, they're not trained to operate their violent weapons, putting us all in danger.
DEFUND OPD by 50% from the general fund. Then we can talk details of what to do with their remaining funds.
My name is Trishula. I live in District 1 (I'm watching you, Councilperson Kalb). Please divert these funds for Oakland Schools, Parks and Affordable Housing. This technology will not support, help nor protect our Black and Brown Oaklanders. Do not give police money or power to infiltrate and harm my community. https://globalnews.ca/news/4344093/controversial-gunshot-detector-shotspotter-toronto-police/
I strongly oppose this measure that does nothing to balance our burgeoning OPD budget while leaving Black communities behind. Use this budget allocation to fund the Black New Deal in full.
I am a District 1 resident, and I am writing to oppose this measure along with my fellow residents. This spending should be reallocated to housing, healthcare, mental health services, education, and other community support initiatives, not to building out the capacity of OPD.
I strongly oppose this measure. People in Oakland (and in cities around the country) are calling for divestment from police departments and reduction of police interaction with residents, due to the constant unjustified killing of Black people by law enforcement and the racist history of policing in America. This proposal does the exact opposite, funding a surveillance program that would only increase police involvement in the community. The shockingly low proportion of 911 calls vs shots detected does not indicate a need for increased police presence and surveillance technology, as the OPD's report would indicate. It demonstrates a deep, justified mistrust in the OPD to de-escalate dangerous situations and promote safety. This City Council should defund the police and think creatively about how other grassroots and community-led institutions can fill functions formerly carried out by police.
I am an Oakland resident in district 1, and I'm at a complete loss to explain why this item is even being considered right now. We are in the middle of a pandemic requiring significant cuts to the budget, OPD has recent abused their power and their weaponry during the protest, and we are in the middle of an unprecedented community request to DEFUND the police. Please do not approve this request to allocate more funds to OPD.
I am a District 2 resident, and I oppose this measure. As stated within the report, only 3% of recorded gunfire incidents are ever reported to the OPD, which shows how little the community trusts the OPD to handle these incidents without further escalation. I urge you not to continue this contract, and to use these funds to invest in other community services, such as education, housing, and healthcare initiatives.
I am a resident of District 1 and would like to see this item further delayed. The Supplemental Report from the Administration is insufficiently detailed: it should provide numbers of incidents where shells were recovered at the scene, vs incidents where officers were deployed and no evidence was collected, vs incidents when no officers were deployed. The Administrator has not yet demonstrated to a reasonable standard that this is a use of funds that would improve the safety of the people of Oakland.
I am a District 2 resident opposing this measure. The fact that in this report "OPD data has shown that citizens only called OPD 3% of the time to report gunfire compared to the number of SS activations" shows how much the community does not trust and cannot rely upon the police. And why should we when we know they are unable to deescalate situations? Calling the police is not safe for our communities. Do not spend more money on tech for OPD. This will not make our communities safer, this is a bad investment.
District 2 resident. Here to add another comment to oppose this measure. Other commenters have articulated reasons and provided sources for the myriad of reasons why this should not be passed. Shotspotter doesn't work. Stop spending my tax dollars on OPD. ALSO, WHY HAVE THE PREVIOUS COMMENTS DISAPPEARED?
OPD itself admits that it "cannot not pinpoint direct causal impacts on gunfire activity in Oakland from use of Shotspotter." Don't waste money on a measure that doesn't work, particularly when Oakland residents are calling for you to reduce OPD's budget by 50%. Increasing funding for OPD does not improve community safety or well-being. I am a resident of District 1 and I urge you to vote against this measure.