The Dive: ShotSpotter in the Crosshairs

With socks on my kids’ hands and a boogie board in tow, we slid around in some strange white stuff Wednesday morning. 

The blanket of snow was a bizarre and welcome greeting. Wilmington hasn’t seen more than 4 inches since 2000, and this week brought as much as 5 inches in some areas like Atkinson and Ocean Isle Beach. 

In what’s certainly a first for the area, local WECT meteorologist Colin Hackman delivered his weather report while riding a snowboard down Nun Street Wednesday.

The last time the region saw any semblance of actual snow stickage was in 2018 when the National Weather Service logged more than 3 inches in Wilmington. That snowfall felt more like ice, while this one was distinctly more snow-like. 

Unfortunately for kids of the region, this snow serves as a reminder of the lost magic of a true snow day, as post-pandemic, school systems now declare these “remote learning days.”

Still, the remote learning didn’t stop kids from venturing out to soak in the rare moment across golf courses and beaches. One local mom even fashioned a pair of snow pants out of a garbage bag for her son. And they say we don’t know how to brave the snow! (OK, so one guy might have caught his truck on fire doing donuts in the snowy Walmart parking lot in Monkey Junction.)

– Johanna F. Still

Catch up on an audio conversation on last week’s edition here. Contact The Dive team with tips and feedback at wilmington@theassemblync.com.

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ShotSpotter in the Crosshairs

Launched in 1996, ShotSpotter is now used in more than 180 communities across the country. The technology uses acoustic sensors to detect gunfire, alerting police to shots that may not come in through 911 calls.

The technology is in use in six cities in North Carolina—Fayetteville, New Bern, Wilmington, Rocky Mount, Greenville, and Goldsboro. The company, which changed its name to SoundThinking in 2023, had a projected revenue of $104 million last year.

But a number of major cities have declined to renew their contracts, including Chicago, Atlanta, and Portland, Oregon. So have Durham, Winston-Salem, and Charlotte, which ended its $160,000-a-year contract for the technology in 2016 after four years, saying that the “return on investment was not high enough to justify renewal.”

Critics say the technology is both ineffective and has led to wrongful arrests and over-policing in Black and Latino communities. 

The company has aggressively defended itself against criticism. ShotSpotter saves lives, said Tom Chittum, the company’s vice president of analytics and forensics. “We know there’s chronic underreporting of gunfire in urban areas, even when there are gunshot victims,” he said, “and ShotSpotter helps fill that gap.” 

A team of reporters from across The Assembly, CityView, and INDY Week dug into what’s happened with ShotSpotter in different parts of the state, and what it might mean for future efforts to address gun violence.

Wilmington’s experience with the company stands out as an outlier. City leaders seem satisfied with the technology, which hasn’t prompted public outcry or dense discussions as it has elsewhere in the state. 

The Company Behind ShotSpotter Says It Curbs Gun Violence. But Some Cities Fear It’s An Empty Promise.

Several North Carolina cities have ended ties with the company that uses technology to track gun violence, saying the data hasn’t backed claims. But others have extended contracts despite backlash. 

After we published our piece last week, we heard from a Wilmington reader, Jane O’Hara, who lives near Castle Street downtown and sees ShotSpotter as a community asset. 

“I feel safer knowing there is an extra layer of protection for me and my property so that police are aware of where the problems are,” O’Hara said. “The police need every tool that helps them keep my neighborhood safe for the average law abiding resident, of which there are many here.”

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Around the Region

Shades of Red: There’s public infighting among the local Republican party, with the New Hanover County GOP Chair publicly calling out the Board of Education Chair for not being a dutiful enough conservative, WHQR reports. 

Rate Surge: The State Insurance Commissioner recently settled with home insurance companies on a double-digit rate increase for beach areas in several local counties, Greater Wilmington Business Journal reports.

Late Invoices: Wilmington will cover a $660,000 operating deficit absorbed by the Wilmington Housing Authority’s recent $18.8 million purchase of Jervay Place, WHQR reports. The financial gap represents unpaid property management invoices.

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Around the State

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