Savannah Approves $262,000 ShotSpotter Contract

Savannah City Council approved funding for gunfire-detection technology across all six aldermanic districts.

Updated on Nov. 12, 2026 in City Hall

Flat-color editorial illustration of a single utility pole with a small sensor housing against a dusk sky above a tree-lined street edge. — Savannah City Council approved a $262,000 ShotSpotter contract across all six aldermanic districts after a Wilder Drive shooting went unreported to 911. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Do you support using gunfire sensors to help police respond in your area?

Savannah City Council approved a $262,000 contract supporting ShotSpotter technology across all six aldermanic districts. The system uses sensors to detect gunfire and alert police when no one calls 911.

Why it matters

About 74% of shots fired do not generate a 911 call, according to the extraction, so the system is intended to give police information they would otherwise miss. Concerns were raised by the 4th District alderman about how AI systems handle collected data.

The contract value is $262,000 across six districts, and the share of unreported shots is about 74%. How the city will evaluate the system's results or protect collected data has not been addressed.

The players

Savannah City Council

The governing body of Savannah, Georgia, which approves city contracts and budgets for the city's public safety and other services.

The details

The ShotSpotter system uses sensors to detect gunfire and alert police. After a shooting on Wilder Drive on Wednesday night, police learned of it through ShotSpotter because no one called 911. City staff said they could explore publishing ShotSpotter activity through the city's planned transparency portal.

Wednesday night: shooting on Wilder Drive; police learned of it through ShotSpotter.
Thursday: City Council approved the $262,000 ShotSpotter contract.

Transparency Test

Whether ShotSpotter activity appears on Savannah's planned transparency portal will show if the city's new open-data tool extends to public safety surveillance. The alderman's concerns about AI data handling make that disclosure a central question.

Residents in all six Savannah aldermanic districts will be covered by ShotSpotter alerts under the approved contract. Whether the transparency portal will publish the system's activity to the public has not been decided.

The takeaway

Gunfire-detection systems can surface shootings that go unreported to 911, but the public will need the transparency portal to judge how the data is used. Residents should watch whether the city publishes ShotSpotter activity as planned.