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US School Installs 'Shooter Detection' System
An anonymous reader writes: A school in Methuen, Massachusetts has demonstrated the first installation of an automated detection system for active gunmen. Sensors placed throughout the building are activated by the sounds of gunfire. The sensors relay data on the shooter's real-time location directly to police, who can then track and subdue their target. The system was developed for the military to detect the location of enemy fire. It will cost school districts between $20,000 and $100,000 to equip each school with the gunfire-detecting sensors. Methuen's police chief said, "It's amazing, the short, split-second amount of time from identification of the shot to transmission of the message. It changes the whole game. Without that shot detection system, we wouldn't know what was going on in the school ... Valuable, valuable time can be lost. Unfortunately, with school crisis situations, it's about mitigating loss."
One problem was solved. Now the other problem needs to be solved. Namely, what causes students to snap and to do that in the first place.
I was thinking the same thing. When I was a kid, setting off blackcats (firecrackers) in the bathroom
was not unheard of. This makes that even more appealing.
My biggest problem with these type of systems is that the cost/reward is so lopsided. There is
so much more effective ways of saving lives than trying to protect yourself from a 1 in a million event.
Children are way way more likely to be injured by their parents at home than they are by a school shooting.
A tornado or a fire is probably also way more likely to injure a kid at school than a school shooting.
There have to be better things to spend money on than expensive equipment that based on probabilities
will likely never be used.
spree shooters are also rare. this is an over reaction to a small problem
That equates to something like $2B to $10B to equip all the public schools in the US to stop a very small number of deaths. Such a system would have done nothing for the kids in the school in Washington State a few weeks back. I think very few of these school shootings last long enough for a system like this to make a real difference. But it makes people feel safer to think their kids are protected. I just wonder how much more effective that money could be at helping the potential perpetrators and preventing the shootings in the first place. It's amazing to me how stupid we are in this country that $20K+ per school to react faster to a catastrophe is so much more palatable than helping distressed kids and preventing the catastrophe in the first place.
The big assumption is that the gunman is continually firing shots that will allow the system to work. Alternatively, off the shelf wi-fi enabled cameras could be purchased that would provide real-time video feeds throughout the school allowing law enforcement to not only "hear" where the gunman is but to be able to actually see the gunman and potential victims as they move (or hide). Estimated cost: $5,000 - $10,000 depending on how many cameras are installed. (The prices are retail so I bet the schools can get an additional 30% off as they would probably be considered a wholesale customer.)
Sure the technology is cool but it doesn't make it the best choice for taxpayer dollars especially given the relative rarity of school shootings. During the 2009 - 2010 school year there were 98,817 public schools. Let's say they were all equipped with this system at $50,000 / school it would cost $4,940,850,000 to retrofit all the schools. I wonder what else can be done with 5 billion dollars... Perhaps some significant development work in vaccines? Perhaps cancer? Heck, I bet more lives would be saved simply choosing random people that need medical care and making sure they get the very best treatment possible.
From TFA:
Yes, we're at a point where the level of violent crime is at its lowest in 40 years but apparently a crazy response is needed regardless.
Needless to say, there's no discussion in this article. Simply a visit to the school for the demonstration, a quick chat with the cops, and a thoughtless quote from the neighbor.
I have a kid in school and frankly I think all this pseudo "security" is more dangerous for shaping future civic involvement than the anhistorical gibberish in the history books.
Amazing how much the pro-gun lobby wants to waste on expensive crap like this, rather than simply allowing for effective laws. Hell, for most of what we need, we don't even need to create new laws, just start enforcing the current ones - in part by firing idiotic state government employees that refuse to comply with with federal reporting requirments
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Call me when a system like that is allowed by the local fire safety code.
You could even buy them new books, computers, teacher's salaries, decent heating systems, lunch.
Why the number of things a student could more likely benefit from is just amazing!
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
I'm pretty sure that "various gunshots" sound a lot more like one another than "a gunshot" and "a book hitting the floor" sound like one another:
For instance:
- dropping a book doesn't cause a supersonic snap as it passes by the sensor - a bullet does.
- a book hitting the floor is not going to create a sound that is 120 dB to 160 dB - noise levels equivalent to "somewhere between a pnemuatic riveter and a jet engine." The muzzle blast from a gun does create a sound that loud.
So there's two fairly easy to discriminate characteristics that are pretty unlikely in a school setting. If the system detects and reports on those, it should be pretty easy to eliminate false positives from some douche-canoe in the library dropping a book on the floor.
I take it you've never fired any guns in your life.
The sound of a gunshot varies wildly with the type of gun, the type of ammunition, the space you're in, the direction the gun is facing relative to you, and your distance from the gun (distance doesn't just effect the loudness). A rifle shot in an open space can be heard for miles. A handgun shot in a closed room can go unnoticed by people in the adjoining room.
I can guarantee you 2 things:
1: This system simply detects and tries to locate the source of a sudden spike.
2: Students will try to trip it, and they will succeed.