NSF Award
2431234
Gun violence and the reckless use of firearms have been a pervasive problem in the United States, especially in low-income communities. This problem has only become exacerbated by increasingly lax gun control laws, easy access to firearms, and growing mistrust of law enforcement that often inhibits reporting by the public. Gun-related crimes cost millions of dollars in medical expenses, law enforcement, and lost wages, not to mention the trauma and shattered lives they leave behind. Many gunshots go unreported or are difficult to identify and localize. Current commercial solutions to gunshot localization are expensive and out of the control of the local communities in which they are used. Motivated by real-world events in an economically disadvantaged community in Austin, Texas, this project seeks to build a community-based system for detecting, localizing, and classifying gunshots using a distributed network of inexpensive acoustic sensors connected via residents’ wireless internet services. The team will engage directly with the neighborhood community, law enforcement, and local government to provide a technological system and practical implementation that provides a scalable, sustainable, effective, and community-controlled solution to address the widespread prevalence of unsanctioned gunfire.<br/><br/>Building off pioneering work by Vanderbilt University in the area of wireless sensor network-based gunshot localization, the team will work with law enforcement and members of the community to determine both the community’s and the police department’s needs and concerns related to gun violence and to determine a path forward for creation of a system that adequately addresses both. To that end, the team will conduct surveys and organize a workshop with members of the community and law enforcement to develop system specifications in Phase 1. In Phase 2, a live pilot will further refine these specifications and lead to rapid system implementation based on an existing codebase and large library of urban gunshot recordings. This pilot system will be deployed in an Austin neighborhood, allowing the team to measure its technical efficacy and assess its impact on public safety and community attitudes. It will also provide a model for similar communities to adopt and adapt to their unique needs and circumstances. The research conducted under this project will advance the state of knowledge in low-cost gunshot localization technology and provide a valuable assessment of the impact and cost effectiveness of such systems when combined with a broad program of community engagement and education.<br/><br/>This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program’s Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
