EVERETT — Everett police want to buy a controversial gunshot detection technology in an effort to combat gun violence, though other cities have questioned the program’s efficacy.

On Wednesday, the City Council voted unanimously to allow city staff to apply for a $300,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce to pay for the technology. Everett police would be one of the first departments in the state to use it. There’s still a long road before it becomes a reality, however.

If the department is awarded the money, the matter would go back to the council, who would decide on allocating the cash to the police department, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said via email.

The program would initially start as a pilot program due to limited grant funding, Tarver said. If the program is effective, the city would consider its continuation.

Gunshot detection systems use a series of sensors spread throughout the city to identify loud bangs as they happen, instantly sending the information to police.

The police department hasn’t identified a specific company it plans to purchase the technology from. The industry leader is SoundThinking, formerly known as ShotSpotter. More than 12 million Americans live in a neighborhood with a SoundThinking sensor, WIRED found. The company has sensors installed in 34 states and territories.

Studies have put into question the effectiveness of gunshot detection systems, with some reports finding the sensors are usually in low-income neighborhoods made up predominately of people of color.

Research from the University of Virginia and Purdue has found about 20% of gunshots or fewer are ever reported to police, Police Chief John DeRousse told the City Council on Wednesday. The sensors would allow police to respond to incidents more often and to aid victims of gun violence faster.

Between 2018 and 2023, according to police department data, shots fired calls in Everett jumped 126%, drive-by shootings increased 275%, murders doubled and gang crimes reported to the FBI went up 233%.

From 2017 to 2022, Everett applied for 90 extreme risk protection orders, more than all other law enforcement agencies in Snohomish County combined, according to a police department letter to the City Council. The orders allow police to seize weapons from people who are found, by a court of law, to be a danger to themselves or others.

DeRousse said the detection program would allow police to identify where gun-related crimes are happening.

“With an increased awareness of the amount and location of gun violence in our community, we would be able to engage both reactive and proactively with at-risk populations and provide them with timely prevention and support programs,” the police department letter states.

The department also plans to create a website for the project to ensure residents are informed and have ample opportunities to give their input, DeRousse said.

Meanwhile, Seattle’s City Council has also been weighing a $1.8 million pilot project for a gunshot detection program, with both audio and video recording capabilities. For two years, Mayor Bruce Harrell has argued it’s one of the only options the city has left to deter criminal activity, in light of a police staffing shortage, an increase in homicides and the frequency of guns being used in crimes, according to Crosscut.

Recently, Chicago announced the end of its partnership with SoundThinking. The city implemented the technology in 2018, and is set to stop in September, according to USA Today. The city spent $49 million on the program since installing it.

In 2021, the Chicago Inspector General found that 90% of incidents where police responded to a ShotSpotter alert did not classify as a gun-related crime.

A leaked report from the Cook County Prosecutor’s Office found one-third of arrests from alerts had nothing to do with a gun.

Kansas City installed systems from the same company in 2012. A 2023 study found that the installation of the program did not correlate with a significant decrease in gun-related crimes.

However in Denver, where the city has installed SoundThinking sensors, police say the system had a positive effect on gun-related activity. In 2022, the technology allowed police to respond to a shooting before anyone made a 911 call.

In February, leaked SoundThinking documents revealed the location of the sensors nationwide for the first time. Before then, both police departments and residents were unsure exactly where these sensors were. Usually, SoundThinking doesn’t disclose this information in order to avoid damage to the sensors, according to a report from WIRED.

A spokesperson for SoundThinking told WIRED that race and income don’t play a role in where the sensors are placed. SoundThinking places sensors based on the level of gun activity, the company said.

If awarded the grant, Everett police would use $20,000 to cover training for the technology, and the other $280,000 would go toward securing and installing the system.

Ashley Nash: 425-339-3037; ashley.nash@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @ash_nash00.