Fayetteville council renews ShotSpotter contract after heated public comments; asks for expanded data reporting

Fayetteville City Council voted 8–2 on Sept. 8 to continue the city’s ShotSpotter acoustic gunshot-detection contract after a lengthy public forum and follow-up council discussion, and separately approved a motion asking city staff to incorporate additional data points recommended by an external evaluation.

The decision came after residents, advocacy groups and council members aired sharply divergent views on whether the technology improves public safety or improperly directs police resources. "The overwhelming majority of people we have talked to agree that they haven't seen ShotSpotter bring about any real change," said Kristen Starks, a Fayetteville resident, nurse and community organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, during the public forum.

The vote to approve the item (listed on the agenda as 8.B.4) followed a motion by Council Member Thompson, seconded by Council Member Harrah, that passed 8–2. A subsequent motion asking the city manager to add the Wilson Center at Duke University’s recommended data measures to future reports passed 9–1.

Residents pressed the council during public comment. Elijah Whitmire Balthazar, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said the contract consumes taxpayer dollars that could be spent on social programs: "The price for Fayetteville's contract with ShotSpotter is $210,000 a year," he said. Angela Freckleton, another speaker, gave a different figure while urging the council to cancel the contract: "ShotSpotter is $220,500 for 1 year and 661,500 for 3," she said.

City officials and public-safety leaders defended the system and said it provides investigatory leads. Chief Bridal (Fayetteville Police Department) told council the platform’s sensors are accurate and said, "the technology that ShotSpotter has shows us a 97% accuracy rate regarding verifying that it is gunfire." The chief acknowledged, however, that the rate at which alerts lead to immediate evidence or an arrest is lower and that some confirmed results can emerge days or even months after an alert.

John Jones, director of the city’s Office of Community Safety, described the office’s current budget and programming priorities while answering council questions about alternatives and complementary investments. Jones said the OCS internal budget allocates roughly $1,690,000 for contracts and services and that "860,000 right now is allocated for youth programming" in the current fiscal cycle.

Council members debated the balance between immediate investigatory tools and long‑term violence‑prevention investments. Council Member Green said she would support the contract for one more year while expecting improved reporting and stepped‑up work from the Office of Community Safety. Opponents argued the system is redundant with 911 calls and has not demonstrably reduced gun violence in the limited zones it covers; supporters said even modest investigative leads and recovered evidence can be valuable.

Council also considered, but did not advance, a motion to renew the contract on a month‑to‑month basis; that motion failed for lack of a second. The council then approved the regular renewal and the managerial direction to implement the independent evaluators’ recommendations on enhanced reporting and data collection.

The contract renewal will remain a topic for the council as managers and the police department supply the additional data points requested by the evaluators and the council. The council’s actions included both the authorization to continue using the system and a formal direction to staff to improve the data collected and reported about ShotSpotter’s performance.