File under, "Sad & Pathetic"

(eweekeurope)
A British police force is piloting gunshot location technology to crackdown on gun-related violence.

Microphones have been strategically placed around the Handsworth and Aston districts of Birmingham as part of the Gunshot Location System, devised in California by ShotSpotter. If a gunshot sounds, the police can use three or more of the recordings to triangulate where the sound occurred and generate a GPS location for ground forces to home-in on.

Despite the high incidence of gang violence in these districts, the local residents have expressed concern that the police will use the microphones to listen-in on private conversations. Chief superintendent Chris McKeogh, of West Midlands police, has assured them that the microphones normally lie dormant and only a loud report from a gun will turn them on...
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