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Shotspotter concerns me - the city I live in has paid millions for a system and recently expanded it. I am not aware of _any_ data that has been published from the system, even fuzzed data. That doesn't pass the sniff test for me.

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Find some like-minded people (perhaps including journalists), pool some resources, and use FOIA to sue. If your chief of police equivocates, call them a liar. Treat them like criminals, accuse them of running a protection racket.

Wow, millions?! Do they have any cost/benefit data for this system?

Of course not. They're hoping that a noise will some day coincide with a crime so then they can write a press release lauding the technology and the smart decision maker for buying it.

The easiest way to be perceived as "doing something" is to spend money on it. Succeed or fail, you can still claim you tried. Much of the voting public is convinced that Democrats drink the blood of babies, so convincing them to look more closely and with skepticism is an uphill battle.

"Succeed or fail, you can still claim you tried. Much of the voting public is convinced that Democrats drink the blood of babies, so convincing them to look more closely and with skepticism is an uphill battle."

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

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