Holyoke Police addresses data from city’s ShotSpotter system

HOLYOKE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- New ShotSpotter technology is helping Holyoke Police track gun violence in the city. They also revealed that ShotSpotter activations in the city are happening more often than they had predicted and the system was activated during a shooting that happened Wednesday afternoon.

“We are all police officers. We all thought we knew exactly how many incidents we were having and what was going on. ShotSpotter has opened our eyes to a lot more incidents of gun fire than we had anticipated,” said Holyoke Police Chief David Pratt.

Wednesday’s shooting in Holyoke added to the alarming new data released by the Holyoke Police Department, which revealed how ShotSpotter technology has helped the force.

“I believe that this system is giving us the tools we need. It’s given the men and woman of the Holyoke Police Department the tools to get us to the right place, so that the public sees us,” Pratt added.

LEARN MORE: Multiple victims reported in Holyoke shooting

Pratt told Western Mass News that the technology helps detect gun fire in the city alerting police of where the shots were fired through a centralized warning system.

Since the technology was implemented in March, Holyoke Police has collected the following data:

• 113 incidents involving gunfire
• 457 rounds detected
• 72 incidents happened near a playground
• 27 incidents occurred near a school
• 110 incidents reported near a business.
• 7 guns recovered
• 10 arrests made
• 6 victims

Wednesday’s incident has not been added to their official tally yet.

“It pains me that I’m in a position where I have to invest in things like this to help reduce issues around gun violence and keep the public safe, but we’re going to do what we can just like investing in the system, which has proven to be affective to date,” said Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia.