Abstract

Many crimes go unreported, making the true scope of crime unknown, and criminal justice reform based on potentially limited data. An acoustic gunfire detection system (AGDS) broadens the data available and provides a unique picture of gun use and violence in communities, separate from crime reported by victims. Using data from an AGDS in the City of St. Louis, this study models variation in community rates of calls to the police for gunshots detected. The results provide new insights into the prevalence of gunfire in a high crime community. We find that community residents are more likely to call the police when the incident was a homicide, and communities with a higher proportion of Black residents are less likely to call 911, net of community disadvantage and violent crime. Policies that encourage community building and improved access to the police and technology are discussed.

摘要

许多犯罪没有报告，使得犯罪的真实范围未知，刑事司法改革基于可能有限的数据。声学枪声探测系统 (AGDS) 拓宽了可用数据，并提供了社区中枪支使用和暴力的独特画面，与受害者报告的犯罪行为分开。使用来自圣路易斯市的 AGDS 的数据，本研究模拟了社区因检测到枪击而报警的比率的变化。结果为高犯罪率社区中枪击的流行提供了新的见解。我们发现，当事件是凶杀案时，社区居民更有可能报警，而黑人居民比例较高的社区则不太可能拨打 911，不包括社区劣势和暴力犯罪。