ShotSpotter detects gunshots. But what else could we be listening for in York?
Graffiti, apparently.
According to a story in the Democrat Chronicle, the city of Rochester, N.Y., (which already has the ShotSpotter system installed) wants to install a system of sensors to detect graffiti.
The story says the graffiti-detection system can detect the "sound signature" of paint being sprayed. From there, it sounds like the system would alert police just like ShotSpotter does.
(Read more...)
Graffiti, apparently.
According to a story in the Democrat Chronicle, the city of Rochester, N.Y., (which already has the ShotSpotter system installed) wants to install a system of sensors to detect graffiti.
The story says the graffiti-detection system can detect the "sound signature" of paint being sprayed. From there, it sounds like the system would alert police just like ShotSpotter does.
(Read more...)
"Project Merlin" is made by Broadband Discovery Systems. Here's a description from the company's Web site:
"While current graffiti abatement techniques focus on after the fact solutions, Project Merlin is a sensor capable of detecting the event before the damage has been completed. With the graffiti sensor a signal can be sent to dispatch within seconds of the first mark made allowing very little time for the perpetrator to get away from the scene."
And Rochester isn't the only city looking into this. A Google search revealed that other places are investing as well.
I called Police Commissioner Mark Whitman to ask if York would be getting graffiti sensors anytime soon. He'd never heard of them, and he said the city is busy paying off the ShotSpotter system as it is.
The commentors on the New York story seem a little skeptical. I'm a little skeptical. The idea of preventing graffiti instead of just covering it up is a good one, but I'm just not sure they'll actually catch anybody with this. They might find the graffiti faster, but I don't know if that is a priority.
Are there better ways to attack the problem of graffiti? What should we be doing here in York?
"While current graffiti abatement techniques focus on after the fact solutions, Project Merlin is a sensor capable of detecting the event before the damage has been completed. With the graffiti sensor a signal can be sent to dispatch within seconds of the first mark made allowing very little time for the perpetrator to get away from the scene."
And Rochester isn't the only city looking into this. A Google search revealed that other places are investing as well.
I called Police Commissioner Mark Whitman to ask if York would be getting graffiti sensors anytime soon. He'd never heard of them, and he said the city is busy paying off the ShotSpotter system as it is.
The commentors on the New York story seem a little skeptical. I'm a little skeptical. The idea of preventing graffiti instead of just covering it up is a good one, but I'm just not sure they'll actually catch anybody with this. They might find the graffiti faster, but I don't know if that is a priority.
Are there better ways to attack the problem of graffiti? What should we be doing here in York?
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