System detects gunshot details

Technology soon may offer law enforcement officials a tool to supplement

witnesses' accounts when gunshots have been fired.

Synchros Technologies Inc./On Alert LP has constructed the On Alert

Gunshot Detection System (GDS). The system can detect exact details of gunshots,

including the type of gun used, the number of shots and the precise location

from which they were fired.

The system can be clipped to power lines or mounted on light poles in

order to provide maximum area coverage. Once captured by GDS, the information

can be rapidly transferred to dispatchers or directly to officers via handheld

devices, allowing for immediate response.

Bryan Noland, chief information officer and vice president at Synchros/On

Alert, believes the new system will increase homeland security. "This will

provide more accurate data [to] local law enforcement for gunshot detection,"

he said.

Proxity Digital Networks Inc. has the global license for the GDS and

is conducting first-stage testing in Oklahoma. Billy Robinson, chief executive

officer for Proxity, said, "anything that protects citizens of the [United

States] and our allies is extremely important."

Robinson explained that every sound is like a fingerprint with a unique

signature. "When a shot goes off, it has its own unique sound. We recorded

sounds of all available firearms and put that into a database," he said.

The device will search the database for a match once a shot is detected,

he added.

Robinson said the software for the system has been developed and testing

is in the first phase. Field testing will start within the next 60 days,

he said.

Private investors and Proxity provided funding for the research and

development of the GDS. The initial deployment cost once testing is completed

will be $20,000 to $25,000 per square mile.

Future versions of the system may include port and border protection

as well as giving advanced warning about a seismic event.

Robinson said the GDS should be deployed and ready to go by the beginning

of the fourth quarter this year.

Caterinicchia is a reporting intern.