#soundthinks

[micro-sg886]

Soundthinks mang thế giới âm thanh tới ngay trong căn hộ cuả bạn với rất nhiều thiết bị phòng thu âm chất lượng cao

[teabree-shark]

Holy shit, ShotSpotter's microphone locations and uptime have been leaked?!

This is crazy! Of course they're placed where they are. Hate this world.

[darkmaga-returns]

The genie is out of the bottle, granting wishes to the Technocrats of the world. Like a “Person of Interest” episode, drones can use high-resolution facial recognition cameras to harvest images and conversations of all people along the flight path. The constant use of drones puts a blanket of fear on citizens who don’t want to be caught in a surveillance dragnet. ⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.

The New York Police Department has launched a new program that will send drones zipping to emergency scenes before officers can get there.

Two drones will be stationed at each of five NYPD station houses, including the one that oversees the 843 acres of Manhattan’s iconic Central Park. Three precincts in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx will also be getting the drones as part of the “Drone as First Responder” initiative.

“New York City is flying into the future as we keep New Yorkers safe,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Wednesday. “These drones will mean more efficient policing and will help increase the safety of our responding NYPD officers and New Yorkers.”

The drones will be deployed remotely and programmed to autonomously fly to the exact longitude and latitude of emergencies, including missing-person searches, alerts from the NYPD’s ShotSpotter gunfire detection system and crimes in progress, according to the mayor’s office.

Once a drone arrives at the scene, an NYPD drone pilot at police headquarters in Lower Manhattan or another location will take control of the device. High-resolution cameras equipped with night vision technology and high-definition audio microphones will allow pilots to assess situations and send live feeds to the smartphones of officers and supervisors on the ground.

The new program marks the latest expansion of the NYPD’s use of drones, which has drawn criticism from advocates of civil liberties and privacy rights since it began in late 2018.

“These drones would be disturbing enough on their own, but pairing them with a discredited vendor like ShotSpotter is even worse,” Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the non-profit Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told the Guardian.

“Recent reviews have found that the vast majority of ShotSpotter alerts are wild goose chases, sending the NYPD to the scenes of crimes that never happened. Sending robots chasing after phantom gunshots that are actually fireworks and car backfires is a privacy nightmare.”

A spokesperson for Fremont, California-based SoundThinking Inc., which makes the ShotSpotter, didn’t immediately return a request for comment from International Business Times on Monday.

[mariacallous]

Liz González’s neighborhood in East San Jose can be loud. Some of her neighbors apparently want the whole block to hear their cars, others like to light fireworks for every occasion, and occasionally there are gunshots.

In February 2023, San Jose began piloting AI-powered gunshot detection technology from the company Flock Safety in several sections of the city, including Gonzalez’s neighborhood. During the first four months of the pilot, Flock’s gunshot detection system alerted police to 123 shooting incidents. But new data released by San Jose’s Digital Privacy Office shows that only 50 percent of those alerts were actually confirmed to be gunfire, while 34 percent of them were confirmed false positives, meaning the Flock Safety system incorrectly identified other sounds—such as fireworks, construction, or cars backfiring—as shooting incidents. After Flock recalibrated its sensors in July 2023, 81 percent of alerts were confirmed gunshots, 7 percent were false alarms, and 12 percent could not be determined one way or the other.

For two decades, cities around the country have used automated gunshot detection systems to quickly dispatch police to the scenes of suspected shootings. But reliable data about the accuracy of the systems and how frequently they raise false alarms has been difficult, if not impossible, for the public to find. San Jose, which has taken a leading role in defining responsible government use of AI systems, appears to be the only city that requires its police department to disclose accuracy data for its gunshot detection system. The report it released on May 31 marks the first time it has published that information.

The false-positive rate is of particular concern to communities of color, some of whom fear that gunshot detection systems are unnecessarily sending police into neighborhoods expecting gunfire. Nonwhite Americans are more often subjected to surveillance by the systems and are disproportionately killed in interactions with police. “For us, any interaction with police is a potentially dangerous one,” says Gonzalez, an organizer with Silicon Valley De-Bug, a community advocacy group based in San Jose.

San Jose did not attempt to quantify how many shooting incidents in the covered area the Flock System failed to detect, also known as the false-negative rate. However, the report says that “it is clear the system is not detecting all gunshots the department would expect.”

Flock Safety says its Raven gunshot detection system is 90 percent accurate. SoundThinking, which sells the ShotSpotter system, is the most popular gunshot detection technology on the market. It claims a 97 percent accuracy rate. But the data from San Jose and a handful of other communities that used the technologies suggest the systems—which use computer algorithms, and in SoundThinking’s case, human reviewers, to determine whether the sounds captured by their sensors are gunshots—may be less reliable than advertised.

Last year, journalists with CU-CitizensAccess obtained data from Champaign, Illinois, showing that only 8 percent of the 64 alerts generated by the city’s Raven system over a six-month period could be confirmed as gunfire. In 2021, the Chicago Office of Inspector General reported that over a 17-month period only 9 percent of the 41,830 alerts with dispositions that were generated by the city’s ShotSpotter system could be connected to evidence of a gun-related crime. SoundThinking has criticized the Chicago OIG report, saying it relied on “incomplete and irreconcilable data.”

This week, New York City’s comptroller published a similar audit of the city’s ShotSpotter system showing that only 13 percent of the alerts the system generated over an eight-month period could be confirmed as gunfire. The auditors noted that while the NYPD has the information necessary to publish data about ShotSpotter’s accuracy, it does not do so. They described the department’s accountability measures as “inadequate” and “not sufficient to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tool.”

Champaign and Chicago have since canceled their contracts with Flock Safety and SoundThinking, respectively.

“Raven is over 90 percent accurate at detecting gunshots with around the same accuracy percentage at detecting fireworks,” Josh Thomas, Flock Safety senior vice president of policy and communications, tells WIRED in a statement. “And critically, Raven alerts officers to gun violence incidents they never would have been aware of. In the San Jose report, for example, of the 111 true positive gunshot alerts, SJPD states that only 6 percent were called in to 911.”

Eric Piza, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University, has conducted some of the most thorough studies available on gunshot detection systems. In a recent study of shooting incidents in Chicago and Kansas City, Missouri, his team’s analysis showed that police responded faster to shooting incidents, stopped their vehicles closer to the scene of shootings, and collected more ballistic evidence when responding to automated gunshot alerts compared to 911 calls. However, there was no reduction in gun-related crimes, and police were no more likely to solve gun crimes in areas with gunshot sensors than in areas without them. That study only examined confirmed shootings; it did not include false-positive incidents where the systems incorrectly identified gunfire.

In another study in Kansas City, Piza found that shots-fired reports in areas with gunshot sensors were 15 percent more likely to be classified as unfounded compared to shots-fired reports in areas without the systems, where police would have relied on calls to 911 and other reporting methods.

“If you look at the different goals of the system, research shows that [gunshot detection technology] typically tends to result in quicker police response times,” Piza says. “But research consistently has shown that gun violence victimization doesn’t reduce after gunshot detection technology has been introduced.”

The New York City comptroller recommended the NYPD not renew its current $22 million contract with SoundThinking without first conducting a more thorough performance evaluation. In its response to the audit, the NYPD wrote that “non-renewal of ShotSpotter services may endanger the public.”

In its report, San Jose’s Digital Privacy Office recommended that the police department continue looking for ways to improve accuracy if it intends to keep using the Raven system.

Pointing to the report’s finding that only 6 percent of the confirmed gunshots detected by the system were reported to police via 911 calls or other means, police spokesperson Sergeant Jorge Garibay tells WIRED the SJPD will continue to use the technology. “The system is still proving useful in providing supplementary evidence for various violent gun crimes,” he says. “The hope is to solve more crime and increase apprehension efforts desirably leading to a reduction in gun violence.”

The department’s media relations division could not immediately locate information about how much SJPD pays Flock Safety for the Raven system or how long its contract is for.

Darcie Green, a community health advocate and member of San Jose’s former Reimagining Public Safety Community Advisory Group, says that disclosing data about the accuracy of the system is a good step, but the city also needs to examine whether the technology is actually making the city safer or whether the money and human resources devoted to responding to real and false gunshot alerts could be better invested elsewhere.

“Obviously we want to reduce gun violence, that’s everybody’s goal,” she says. “For these dollars that we’re spending on enforcement and punishment, we should be spending three-, four-, fivefold on programming and improvement. There are so many people for whom calling the police is not a solution.”

Gonzalez, the East San Jose community organizer, says the lack of 911 calls about shootings is a reflection of how little she and others in the community trust police responses to their neighborhood.

“There was a time when a helicopter was searching for somebody in our neighborhood, and I could swear that they were in my backyard, but I didn’t want to call the police because potentially they could shoot me or my family mistaking me for that person,” she says. “I would rather have the person in my backyard than the police looking for them.”

[norteenlinea]

SoundThinking amplía la cobertura de ShotSpotter en Montevideo, Uruguay y duplica su área de cobertura

http://dlvr.it/TFZ6mM

[loscerritoscommunitynews]

Pico Rivera Approves Pilot Test for ShotSpotter Gunshot Detection System

@mayorcamacho @LutzPicoRivera @drmonicasanchez @andrewcorban @QuirkSilvaCA @BlancaNPacheco

January 29, 2024 By Brian Hews The Pico Rivera City Council has approved a one-year pilot program to implement the ShotSpotter system to detect and locate gunfire in areas of the city.  ShotSpotter is operated by SoundThinking, Inc. and is officially called a Gunshot Detection, Location, and Forensics System. The system is used by several cities in the U.S., including Chicago, New York, San…

[nuovaalta2]

$SSTI #Stocks

SSTI Soundthinking, the bellwether amid the #SoftwareandProgrammingIndustry, has scheduled to report the third quarter of the 2023 financial results, The entities within the Software and Programming industry realized, so far 12.4 % expansion in the respective revenues, in the Q3 of 2023 https://csimarket.com/stocks/financials_glance.php?code=SSTI&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[craigbrownphd]

SoundThinking, Maker of ShotSpotter, Is Buying Parts of PredPol Creator Geolitica

https://www.wired.com/story/soundthinking-geolitica-acquisition-predictive-policing/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[ericvanderburg]

SoundThinking, Maker of ShotSpotter, Is Buying Parts of PredPol Creator Geolitica

http://securitytc.com/SwgwPG

[finnes]

Anne Applebaum. 🍎🍎🍎 ⠀ I think during my university years I had so many Marxist teachers that, under their influence, I had incorrectly idealized communism. It was only this year after getting introduced to the important work of Anne Applebaum, I kind of came to my senses. Her articles and most importantly her book "Gulag," filled in the gaps left from my political science undergraduate education. "Gulag" is long, but it's totally worth the time!⠀ ⠀ #HappyNES #anneapplebaum #gulag #sovietunion #communism #columnist #thewashingtonpost #inktober #inktober2018 #freedomthinkers #soundthinkers #research #history #historian #illustration #illustrator #portrait #drawing #drawingaday #drawingaday2018 #illustrationaday #idw #happynesinktober #gulagahistory ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ https://www.instagram.com/p/Boino4yBY98/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=17135o5ozlzl

[wisdomrays]

JIHAD, TERRORISM, HUMAN RIGHTS: On recent terrorist attacks.Part1

Muslims should say, "In true Islam, terror does not exist"

Today, at best we can say that Islam is not known at all. Muslims should say, "In true Islam, terror does not exist." In Islam, killing a human is an act that is equal in gravity to qufr (not believing in God). No person can kill a human being. No one can touch an innocent person, even in time of war. No one can give a fatwa (a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law spcialist, concerning a specific issue) in this matter. No one can be a suicide bomber. No one can rush into crowds with bombs tied to his or her body. Regardless of the religion of these crowds, this is not religiously permissible. 

Even in the event of war—during which it is difficult to maintain balances—this is not permitted in Islam. Islam states; "Do not touch children or people who worship in churches." This has not only been said once, but has been repeated over and over throughout history. What Our Master, Prophet Muhammad, said, what Abu Bakr said, and what 'Umar said is the same as what, at later dates, Salahaddin Ayyubi, Alparslan, and Kiliçarslan also said. Later on, Sultan Mehmet II, the Conqueror, also said the same. Thus, the city of Constantinople, in which a disorderly hullabaloo reigned, became Istanbul. In this city the Greeks did not harm the Armenians, nor did the Armenians harm the Greeks. Nor did the Muslims harm any other people. A short time after the conquest of Constantinople, the people of the city hung a huge portrait of the Conqueror on the wall in the place of that of the Patriarchate. It is amazing that such behavior was displayed at that time. Then, history relates that the Sultan summoned the Patriarch and gave him the key to the city. Even today, the Patriarchate remembers him with respect. But today, Islam, as with every other subject, is not understood properly. Islam has always respected different ideas and this must be understood for it to be appreciated properly.

I regret to say that in the countries Muslims live, some religious leaders and immature Muslims have no other weapon to hand than their fundametaist interpretation of Islam; they use this to engage people in struggles that serve their own purposes. In fact, Islam is a true faith, and it should be lived truly. On the way to attaining faith one can never use untrue methods. In Islam, just as a goal must be legitimate, so must all the means employed to reach that goal. From this perspective, one cannot achieve Heaven by murdering another person. A Muslim cannot say, "I will kill a person and then go to Heaven." God's approval cannot be won by killing people. One of the most important goals for a Muslim is to win the approval of God, another being making the name of Almighty God known to the universe.

The rules of Islam are clear. Individuals cannot declare war. 

A group or an organization cannot declare war. War is declared by the state. War cannot be declared without a president or an army first saying that there is a war. Otherwise, it is an act of terror. In such a case war is entered into by gathering around oneself, forgive my language, a few bandits. Another person would gather some others around himself. If people were allowed to declare war individually then chaos would reign; because of such small differences a front could be formed even between soundthinking people. Some people could say, "I declare war against such and such a person." A person who is tolerant to Christianity could be accused as follows: "This man, so and so, helps Christianity and weakens Islam. A war against him should be declared and he must be killed." The result would be that a war is declared. Fortunately, declaring war is not this easy. If the state does not declare a war, no one can wage war. Whoever does this, even if they are scholars whom I admire, does not create a real war; this is against the spirit of Islam. The rules of peace and war in Islam are clearly set out.

An Islamic world, indeed, does not exist

An Islamic world does not really exist. 

There are places where Muslims live. They are more Muslims in some places and fewer in others. Islam has become a way of living, a culture; it is not being followed as a faith. There are Muslims who have restructured Islam in accordance with their thoughts. I do not refer to radical, extremist Muslims, but to ordinary Muslims who live Islam as it suits them. The prerequisite for Islam is that one should "really" believe, and live accordingly; Muslims must assume the responsibilities inherent in Islam. It cannot be said that any such societies with this concept and philosophy exist within Islamic geography. If we say that they exist, then we are slandering Islam. If we say that Islam does not exist, then we are slandering humans. I do not think Muslims will be able contribute much to the balance of the world in the near future. I do not see our administrators having this vision. The Islamic world is pretty ignorant, despite a measured enlightenment that is coming into being nowadays. We can observe this phenomenon during the Hajj. We can see this displayed during conferences and panels. You can see this in their parliaments through television. There is a serious inequality in the subject matter. They—these Muslims—cannot solve the problems of the world. Perhaps it could be achieved in the future.

Today, there is an Islam of the individual. 

There are some Muslims in different places of the world. One by one, all have been separated from one another. I personally do not see anyone who is a perfect Muslim. If Muslims are not able to come into contact with one another and constitute a union, to work together to solve common problems, to interpret the universe, to understand it well, to consider the universe carefully according to the Qur'an, to interpret the future well, to generate projects for the future, to determine their place in the future, then I do not think we can talk about an Islamic world. Since there is no Islamic world, every one acts individually. It could even be said that there are some Muslims with their own personal truths. It cannot be claimed that there is an Islamic understanding which has been agreed upon, approved by qualified scholars, reliably based upon the Qur'an, and repeatedly tested. It could be said that a Muslim culture is dominant, rather than Islamic culture.

It has been so since the fifth century AH (eleventh century AD). This started with the Abbasid Era and with the appearance of the Seljuks. It increased after the conquest of Istanbul. In the periods that followed, doors to new interpretations were closed. Horizons of thought became narrowed. The breadth that was in the soul of Islam became narrowed. More unscrupulous people begun to be seen in the Islamic world; people who were touchy, who could not accept others, who could not open themselves to everyone. This narrowness was experienced in the dervish lodges, as well. It is sad that it was even experienced in the madrasas (schools of theology). And of course, all of these tenets and interpretations require revision and renovation by cultivated people in their fields.

[qudachuk]

SoundThinking, a gunshot detection company, worked with top police officials to secure a city contract, according to emails obtained by the GuardianOn 5 February 2022, police in Portland, Oregon, sent out a bulletin pleading with the public for information...

[norteenlinea]

SoundThinking se expande a América Latina con el lanzamiento de ShotSpotter en Montevideo, Uruguay

http://dlvr.it/T07blP