Fort Worth council discusses expanded outreach, ongoing gunshot-detection pilot to reduce celebratory firing

Council members and Police Chief Neil Aldridge discussed the city’s plan to reduce celebratory firearm discharges and to evaluate gunshot-detection technology already in trial.

Chief Aldridge said the city has been testing gunshot-detection systems since December under contracts with two vendors, including Flock, and that the trial will continue as staff evaluate effectiveness and calibration. He said some alerts in Rosemont Park proved to be train noise rather than gunfire, emphasizing the need to fine-tune sensors.

Councilmembers pressed for broader public outreach beyond social media; Councilmember Beck urged a campaign that includes English- and Spanish-language television, radio and newspapers to reach people not on social platforms. Councilmember Flores asked about the pilot timeline and data: Aldridge said the pilot “kicked off in December,” the contract with Flock remains in place and the units will be kept while staff evaluate effectiveness. Hot-spot reporting summarized for the council used two years of data spanning 2022–2024; Aldridge said staff can update that analysis annually and can filter for time periods associated with celebratory firing.

Councilmembers also recommended exploring more aggressive enforcement and tuning detection placement to capture recurring problem areas. Aldridge and others noted that calibration and false positives (for example, train noise and fireworks) remain implementation challenges. Staff agreed to continue the pilot, reassess sensor placement using updated hot-spot data, and expand outreach plans to include mainstream media as well as social media.