Columbus council approves $661,500 contract for gunfire‑detection service

Columbus City Council on April 1 authorized the Division of Police to enter a contract with Sound Thinking Inc. (formerly ShotSpotter) and approved a $661,500 expenditure for a gunfire detection, alert and analysis program.

The measure, moved and supported during the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, passed on a roll call vote. Council documents and presenters described the service as a 24/7, cloud‑based monitoring program that detects gunfire, provides an approximate location to dispatchers and delivers short audio clips and analytic tools to investigators.

Deputy Director Wenzel explained the city sought a waiver of competitive bidding because the company has provided the service since 2018 and the existing infrastructure is already configured to interface with Columbus Police equipment. "It's not practical to bid this out at this time and incur startup charges and breaks in coverage and transitioning to another vendor," Wenzel said.

Deputy Chief Smith Weir described how the system has been used in Columbus since 2019 and summarized the data the division is using to assess the program. "We eventually expanded service to cover the near side and Wedgwood area — today the gunshot detection system covers roughly 12.65 square miles of the city," Smith Weir said. He provided three‑year alert totals presented to council: 5,084 alerts in 2022, 5,356 in 2023 and 3,769 in 2024, representing tens of thousands of rounds detected within the monitored area.

Smith Weir emphasized operational benefits beyond arrests and recovered firearms: "There are systems that can get us to the area within 82 feet of the location of the gunfire within minutes," he said. He said that quick, location‑specific alerts can speed help to possible victims, preserve evidence, help locate witnesses and support prosecutorial presentations.

Council members asked about cost effectiveness and data tracking. Smith Weir and Wenzel said the division is working to improve internal tracking and to evaluate performance metrics; they noted isolating the effect of any single tool on citywide crime trends is difficult because multiple strategies and investments operate in tandem.

The ordinance authorizes the Department of Public Safety to contract with Sound Thinking Inc., waives competitive bidding, and declares the expenditure an emergency to maintain continuous coverage.

Councilmember Rimi moved passage; the ordinance passed on roll call and was recorded as approved by council.