Reno City Council members on Wednesday approved the FLOCK Raven gunshot detection system, a technology that will be used to alert police of shots fired within the downtown area. According to Reno Police Chief Kathryn Nance, the system has a 90% accuracy when it comes to pinpointing gunshots to within 90 feet. 

The Raven system uses artificial intelligence to distinguish between gunshots, fireworks, sideshows or other loud noises—such as whips—and alerts law enforcement within 60 seconds of a reported shooting. Nance said the system will provide officers with an exact location to respond. 

“If we are looking for a specific vehicle, we can put that information in, and it will track on the cameras where that vehicle has been.”

According to Nance, the system is a solution to the underreporting of gunshots in noisy areas such as downtown Reno. Noise in downtown Reno has been mentioned multiple times at council meetings this year and council members requested an ordinance to help address the problem.

“This really does give us an opportunity to respond to those very quickly and know where the problems are happening,” Nance said. 

The gunshot detection technology is also paired with around 40 high-resolution camera systems with license plate readers, also produced by FLOCK, which will be able to provide real-time surveillance. FLOCK’s website said the audio and video surveillance allows police to “connect the dots.”

“Proximity Analytics identifies vehicles near confirmed shootings in multiple locations to help solve gun crimes faster,” the company’s website notes.

Nance said while cameras are often difficult, and go down due to weather or maintenance issues, this system “will give us the most up-to-date and accurate information” which will allow officers to respond to incidents quicker. 

Data trailers are included with the system, which can be moved around the city, and serve as a “flexible resource” for monitoring crime hotspots. For example, some cities place the trailers in busy retail parking lots during the holiday season to monitor for retail theft.

Nance said the tech will also help RPD identify crime trends. 

“I really wish we would have had this technology a month or so ago when we were dealing with a few of the problem bars,” she said. If RPD had access to the data previously, she said it would have helped law enforcement address many problems before they escalated. 

Nance said over the past 60 days, RPD walking and bike teams in the downtown area have made 165 arrests, including 53 felonies, and issued a total of 204 citations. 

Nance said the program will be piloted in downtown, where the need is particularly high due to an increase of violent incidents. 

“We’re seeing numbers of arrests and contacts in the downtown area that we’ve never seen before,” Nance said. “A lot more arrests are being made, and violent crimes are being prevented.” 

The data collected from these systems will help in further understanding crime patterns and deploying resources more effectively, Nance said, particularly in areas experiencing a “surge” in crime.

RPD can also use the system to search for specific vehicles associated with a reported crime. 

“If we are looking for a specific vehicle, we can put that information in, and it will track on the cameras where that vehicle has been,” she said. 

Nance said other law enforcement agencies have seen positive effects from the technology, including in her last post in Stockton, California, where gunshot detection systems have been successful in identifying shooting incidents, even if witnesses didn’t report them. 

Council was highly supportive of the pilot program, and said they’d eventually like to see it expanded. 

“We are not law enforcement agents,” Mayor Hillary Schieve said. “This is why we have a police chief. We want to support you in every way possible, especially with the challenges in downtown Reno.”

The program will be funded through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for a cost of $450,000 and covers a three-year contract. 

Nance said, in addition, there are 18 new RPD recruits who will be graduating from the academy in the next few weeks and will allow the city to maintain its staffing levels despite retirements and ongoing vacancies. 

Council member Naomi Duerr said she looks forward to seeing an expansion outside of the downtown area, noting that there has been an increase of vandalism in the Damonte Ranch area. Cars, houses, doors and property are being vandalized, presumably by youth, near the high school in that area, she said. 

Duerr said a lot of residents are” taking things into their own hands,” but having a camera system like this would help track cars associated with the vandalism. 

Council approved the program unanimously.