GE Lighting and ShotSpotter Announce MOU to Bring Gunshot Detection to Light Fixtures
East Cleveland, Ohio (PRWEB) September 30, 2015 -- Cities and their emergency responders will soon have a new way to deploy gunshot detection technology and be able to respond to incidents and react faster to protect their residents. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between GE Lighting and SST, Inc., developer of the ShotSpotter™ crime detection and location suite, lays ground to embedding sophisticated ShotSpotter technology into GE’s intelligent LED street lights.
The proposed exclusive arrangement intends to add real-time gunfire detection from ShotSpotter to GE’s Intelligent Environments for Cities solution, which features software and sensor-enabled LED lighting powered by Predix™—GE’s cloud-based platform for the Industrial Internet—to help cities realize potential opportunities for reducing cost, optimizing operations and creating value.
The collaboration is conditional on a definitive agreement.
How It Will Work:
Communities most affected by gunfire are least likely to call it in. It is estimated that 1 in 10 shooting incidents are reported to 9-1-1*, and when calls do come in, the information is often inaccurate.
Through its proprietary acoustic sensors and enterprise-grade software, ShotSpotter detects and locates gunfire in real time. Alerts are then broadcast to 9-1-1 dispatch centers, patrol cars and even smart phones, with the precise location, number of rounds fired, multiple or single shooters, and other valuable situational intelligence. These alerts enable first responders to get on scene quickly and safely in order to aid victims, collect evidence and quickly apprehend offenders.
ShotSpotter is already driving meaningful outcomes in cities today. Embedding the technology in GE’s Intelligent Environments for Cities solution will take its benefits one step further by building into a city’s existing infrastructure and by leveraging the GE Predix cloud. With ShotSpotter sensors embedded into lighting fixtures throughout a city, much broader coverage areas will be available on a cost-affordable basis.
“We’ve entered an era where lighting is so much more than illumination,” says Rick Freeman, Global Product General Manager, Intelligent Devices, GE Lighting. “The ecosystem we are building with our Intelligent Environments for Cities solution is transforming street lighting into the analytical brain of urban life, and this MOU with ShotSpotter gives one more option for cities to unlock new potential benefits for their city teams and their residents.”
“ShotSpotter is a proven tool in helping cities across the country address chronic gun violence issues,” says Ralph A. Clark, President and CEO of SST, Inc. “The City of San Francisco, for example, reports an approximate 50% decrease in recorded firearms violence since deploying ShotSpotter as part of their gun violence abatement strategy. This partnership with GE will accelerate the adoption of this technology in other cities by integrating our solution into existing infrastructure in a more comprehensive way.”
Additional Intelligent Environments for Cities Benefits:
In addition to the MOU with ShotSpotter, the future potential opportunities within GE’s Intelligent Environments for Cities solution are nearly endless. For instance, parking downtown may be a pain, but not in the intelligent city of the future. Networked LED street lights will have the ability to direct drivers to available spaces with the help of built-in sensors and wireless transceivers. The same streetlight could serve as a sensor and give warnings in the event of severe weather or other event or help manage traffic and offer residents a faster route home.
To learn more about GE Lighting’s Intelligent Environments for Cities solution, visit http://www.gelighting.com/intelligentcities. To learn more about ShotSpotter, visit http://www.shotspotter.com.
- 2013 SST Inc., National Gunfire Index
About GE Lighting:
GE Lighting is changing the way people light and think about their world in commercial, industrial, municipal and residential settings. Light brightens our path to a better way of being. Today, light is intelligent. Light listens, learns and sees. GE. Where Light Is Bright. http://www.gelighting.com.
About GE:
GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. http://www.ge.com
About ShotSpotter:
ShotSpotter Flex helps local law enforcement agencies by directing police to the precise location of illegal gunfire incidents enabling first responders to aid victims, collect evidence and quickly apprehend armed, dangerous offenders. The ShotSpotter actionable intelligence can then be used to prevent future crimes by positioning law enforcement when and where gun crime is likely to occur. With ShotSpotter Flex, police now possess a scientific barometer of success since smart policing leads to fewer shootings.
About SST, Inc.:
SST, Inc. is the global leader in gunfire detection and location technology providing the most trusted, scalable and reliable gunfire alert and analysis solutions available today. SST’s ShotSpotter Flex™ is the leading gunfire alert and analysis solution for detecting gunshots and providing critical intelligence to give law enforcement agencies the detailed real-time data needed to investigate, analyze and prosecute gun related crimes. SST’s ShotSpotter SiteSecure provides critical indoor/outdoor infrastructure protection against active shooter attacks. The company’s deep domain experience, intellectual property including 33 issued patents, along with cumulative agency best practice experience, enables measurable outcomes that contribute to reducing gun violence. SST is a proven solution provider with more than 90 installations across the United States and the world. Privately held, the company holds numerous patents resulting from nearly two decades of innovation in the area of acoustic gunshot location technology. Detail can be found at http://www.ShotSpotter.com. Details about our US and foreign patents can be found at http://www.ShotSpotter.com/patents.
Alicia Gauer, GE Lighting, http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/na/, +1 216-266-2853, [email protected]
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