TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The streets are an evolving challenge for Tucson Police. There’s more street racing and shootings where lots of shots are being fired. Now they’re turning to technology to help.
Criminals are getting more brazen, blatant and dangerous.
Besides extreme speeding, street racers are taking over major intersections for stunt sessions called sideshows, or street takeovers. As if that weren’t dangerous enough some of them bring guns—and use them.
Police say in other cases they‘ve seen gunslinging kids fire more than a hundred shots.
Now police are bringing more technology into the battle:
More microphones that detect gunshots and calculate the direction they came from.
More license plate readers to identify cars, and surveillance cameras that move to help track trouble.
TPD Captain Adam Kidd says, “So when we get information of some of these street racing or sideshow events, we can deploy some of the pan-tilt-zoom cameras, our license plate readers, the mobile shot spot detection devices, to not only help us in the investigative aspect but also as more of an early warning system when these incidents start popping up.”
TPD is also a leader in analyzing the shell casings left behind at a shooting. That can tell the story of an individual gun and the crimes it connects to.
Police say there’s an extra impact when the tech ties into tips from the public.
We met Joe Miller at a spot where a young man was killed. Miller has spent 20 years working to improve life in the Midvale Park neighborhood. He says the new technology can give people extra hope that their calls will really help.
“You know, one person calls in, they feel like, ‘Should I even call’? And, you know, knowing that stuff's there, that their calls are going to be responded to, that will give them a lot more, that will make them feel more comfortable calling, because now there's a partnership growing there.”
Last month, Craig Smith sat down with TPD Chief Chad Kasmar to learn more about how Tucson Police—and you– can fight back. Watch that full-length here:
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
