Cambridge Committee Hears ShotSpotter Testimony, Eyes May Vote to End Program

CAMBRIDGE -- April 29, 2026, Cambridge's Public Safety Committee heard 32 speakers in unanimous opposition to the city's ShotSpotter gunshot-detection system Wednesday, with councilors signaling they will seek a formal vote at an Annual Surveillance hearing scheduled for May 20. Chair Councillor Zondervan Al-Zuby convened the hearing to review the program, funded through federal Urban Area Security Initiative grants administered by the Boston Office of Emergency Management, not by a direct Cambridge contract, which has operated in the Port and Riverside neighborhoods since roughly 2015. Mason Kortz, an attorney at the Harvard Cyber Law Clinic, told the committee that public records requests revealed Cambridge possesses only a 2023 sample agreement and has never seen the executed contract between Sound Thinking and Boston, adding that "the city of Cambridge doesn't even have a legal relationship with Sound Thinking." Cambridge Police Commissioner Pauline Wells and Superintendent Fred Cabral defended the program, citing 129 gunfire alerts since 2018 confirming 418 rounds detected and 11 confirmed shootings that generated no 911 call. City Solicitor Megan Baer confirmed the council can rescind its 2019 Surveillance Technology Ordinance approval of ShotSpotter if it determines benefits no longer outweigh costs, a determination Councillor Mark McGovern and Councillor Patty Nolan both said they are prepared to make.