Most Chicago voters said they want ShotSpotter back, but that’s unlikely to sway Mayor Johnson

More than 70% of Chicagoans expressed in an advisory referendum Tuesday that they want to bring back gunshot detection technology to fight violent crime and speed up emergency response time to gunshot victims, but the vote is unlikely to pressure Mayor Brandon Johnson into reviving it.It’s been three years since Johnson honored a campaign promise to progressive supporters by canceling the city’s contract with ShotSpotter, the technology he derisively called a “walkie-talkie on a stick.”Johnson and his backers viewed the technology as costly, ineffective and a contributor to over-policing in Black and Brown communities where the majority of gun violence occurs. Afterward, the City Council empowered then-Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling to sign a new contract with ShotSpotter, but Johnson declared the ordinance illegal — even after negotiating a costly extension to retain the technology through the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.Johnson then launched an open competiti