Plan to Pin Origin of Gunfire Explored

Hoping to curb the number of gunshots fired into the air, a longtime city nuisance, Councilwoman Lisa Mills has asked the Police Department to look into an innovative system now being tested in Northern California to detect the origin of gunshots.

Plagued by people firing into the air, Redwood City budgeted $25,000 to test a network of microphones mounted on buildings and utility poles in December.

The system relays the source of gunfire to police and is accurate to within about 20 feet.

On holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s eves, Santa Ana regularly logs the most gunshot complaints of any Orange County city.

On New Year’s, the busiest night, Santa Ana averages about 200 complaints of what is called celebratory gunfire.

The Redwood City system was installed by Trilon Technology.

But another company, Hopkins, Minn.-based Alliant Techsystems, is working with the Defense and Justice departments to test a similar system this summer in a major U.S. city.

Mills proposes that Santa Ana apply to be that test city.

The Alliant system is a spinoff of technology used to detect submarines.

As part of its effort to convert military technology to civilian uses, the Department of Defense will pay for the test city’s microphones, Alliant spokesman Bill Labuda said.

Labuda said the Justice Department plans to choose a test city by the end of March.

He said the government will look for a city that has a demonstrable problem and is willing to use the sensors to track down and prosecute offenders.

With its high number of reports of shots, he said, Santa Ana would have good odds of being chosen.