Three officers approached the boy’s house, with one asking “What you doing bro, you good?” They heard a loud bang, later determined to be fireworks, and shot at the child. Fortunately, no physical injuries were recorded. In initial reports, police falsely claimed that they fired at a “man” who had fired on officers.
In a subsequent assessment of the event, the Chicago Civilian Office of Police Accountability (“COPA”) concluded that “a firearm was not used against the officers.” Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling placed all attending officers on administrative duty for 30 days and is investigating whether the officers violated department policies.
ShotSpotter is the largest company which produces and distributes audio gunshot detection for U.S. cities and police departments. Currently, it is used by 100 law enforcement agencies.
Experts have long been warning of these tools’ the inaccuracy.
My own car has backfired exactly once, and it’s a 90s car. And that was under very specific, non ideal, “I’m trying to get the engine started and I might have held the ignition too long” circumstances.
I can count on one hand the number of backfires I’ve heard in the last 20 years.