This dataset contains all ShotSpotter alerts since the introduction of ShotSpotter to some Chicago Police Department (CPD) districts in 2017. ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection system designed to automatically determine the location of potential outdoor gunfire. ShotSpotter audio sensors are placed in several CPD districts throughout the city (specific districts are noted below). If at least three sensors detect a sound that the ShotSpotter software determines to be potential gunfire, a location is determined and the alert is sent to human ShotSpotter analysts for review. Either the alert is sent to CPD, or it is dismissed. Each alert can contain multiple rounds of gunfire; sometimes there are multiple alerts for what may be determined to be one incident. More detail on the technology and its accuracy can be found on the company’s website <a href="https://www.shotspotter.com">here</a>. It should also be noted that ShotSpotter alerts may increase year-over-year while gun violence did not necessarily increase accordingly because of improvements in detection sensors. ShotSpotter does not exist in every CPD district, and it was not rolled out in every district at the same time. ShotSpotter was first deployed in Chicago in 2017, and sensors exist in the following districts as of the May 2021 launch of this dataset: 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008, 009, 010, 011, 015, and 025.
This dataset has the following 20 columns:
| Column Name | API Column Name | Data Type | Description | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DATE | date | calendar_date | Date when the alert was generated. | 2024-01-01T00:01:11.000 2023-01-01T01:47:14.000 2022-01-01T00:19:12.000 2021-12-31T23:58:28.000 2024-01-01T03:12:39.000 view top 100 |
| BLOCK | block | text | The block of the address where ShotSpotter detected potential gunfire. | 6400 S DOCTOR MARTIN 2400 E 105TH ST 4800 S ADA ST 300 NORTH CENTRAL PARK 4600 S WINCHESTER AVE view top 100 |
| ZIP_CODE | zip_code | text | The zip code where the potential gunfire was detected. | 60617 60628 60619 60623 60609 view top 100 |
| WARD | ward | number | The City Council district in which the potential gunfire was detected. Please refer to the city of Chicago’s Data Portal for a map of the 50 wards. | 7 6 8 20 16 view top 100 |
| COMMUNITY_AREA | community_area | text | The community area where the potential gunfire was detected. Chicago has 77 community areas. See the map of Chicago’s community areas at https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/cauq-8yn6. | AUSTIN WEST ENGLEWOOD SOUTH SHORE NEW CITY NORTH LAWNDALE view top 100 |
| AREA | area | number | The CPD area where the potential gunfire was detected. There are 5 CPD areas. Each area includes 3-4 police districts. | 1 2 4 3 5 view top 100 |
| DISTRICT | district | number | The CPD district where the potential gunfire was detected. Please refer to the City of Chicago’s Data Portal for a map of districts. | 4 7 5 8 6 view top 100 |
| BEAT | beat | text | The CPD beat where the potential gunfire was detected. A beat is the smallest CPD geographic area. Each beat has a dedicated police beat car. Three to five beats make up a police sector, and three sectors make up a police district. The Chicago Police Department has 22 police districts. Please refer to the City of Chicago’s Data Portal for a map of beats. | 0423 0421 0523 0511 0414 view top 100 |
| STREET_OUTREACH_ORGANIZATION | street_outreach_organization | text | Street outreach organization refers to organizations that actively work in “the streets” to engage individuals who are at immediate or high risk of being either victims or perpetrators of violence. Each organization has specific geographic boundaries where they focus their activities. This indicates which organization(s) is (are) active in the location where the ShotSpotter alert occurred and may contain more than one organization as several outreach organizations’ boundaries overlap. | None Claretian Associates South Chicago PBMR New City Claretian Associates South Shore TADC Englewood | READI 60621 | Public Equity Englewood view top 100 |
| UNIQUE_ID | unique_id | text | The unique identifier generated by shotspotter for each alert. | SST-100005 SST-100006 SST-100007 SST-100008 SST-100009 view top 100 |
| MONTH | month | number | The month when the alert was generated. | 1 5 10 9 6 view top 100 |
| DAY_OF_WEEK | day_of_week | number | The day of the week when the alert was generated. Sunday=1 | 1 7 2 6 3 view top 100 |
| HOUR | hour | number | The hour of the day when the alert was generated. | 0 1 23 2 22 view top 100 |
| INCIDENT_TYPE_DESCRIPTION | incident_type_description | text | ShotSpotter code describing the type of alert. Alert types are “Single Gunshot,” “Multiple Gunshot,” and “Gunshot or Firecracker.” | MULTIPLE GUNSHOTS SINGLE GUNSHOT GUNSHOT OR FIRECRACKER view top 100 |
| ROUNDS | rounds | number | Each ShotSpotter alert can contain multiple rounds if they are fired in quick succession. This column shows the number of rounds in the alert. | 1 2 3 4 5 view top 100 |
| ILLINOIS_HOUSE_DISTRICT | illinois_house_district | number | The Illinois State House of Representatives district in which the alert occurred. | 6 10 32 25 33 view top 100 |
| ILLINOIS_SENATE_DISTRICT | illinois_senate_district | number | The Illinois State Senate district in which the alert occurred. | 3 5 16 13 17 view top 100 |
| LATITUDE | latitude | number | The latitude of the potential gunfire detection. In order to preserve anonymity, the given coordinates are not the actual location of the crime. To produce slightly altered coordinates, a circle roughly the size of an average city block was drawn around the original point location, and a new location was picked randomly from a spot around the circumference of that circle. | 41.777991249 41.752249246 41.772840982 41.762987618 41.764290856 view top 100 |
| LONGITUDE | longitude | number | The longitude of the potential gunfire detection. This has been slightly altered to preserve anonymity (see details under LATITUDE). | -87.61693776 -87.722922808 -87.622530106 -87.730720049 -87.64819383 view top 100 |
| LOCATION | location | point | A slightly altered location of the alert in a form that allows for mapping and other geographic analysis on this data portal. | {"coordinates":[-87.631805419922,41.822926419189],"type":"Point"} {"coordinates":[-87.725934859758,41.903100059969],"type":"Point"} {"coordinates":[-87.613439437395,41.774365471346],"type":"Point"} {"coordinates":[-87.713509076589,41.743794913241],"type":"Point"} {"coordinates":[-87.711143493652,41.890965359619],"type":"Point"} view top 100 |