Mayor Johnson upends gunshot-detection pilot after voters resoundingly back the technology

The 72% support in an advisory referendum for bringing gunshot-detection technology back to the streets of Chicago has apparently prompted Mayor Brandon Johnson to change his crime-fighting strategy.

Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts disclosed the surprise about-face Monday while on the hot seat at a City Council budget hearing.

Roberts said her office initially planned a pilot program with one vendor that wasn't involved in a lengthy, competitive bidding process for a gunshot-detection contract. But the Johnson administration has now decided to let all of the “short-listed” bidders showcase their violence prevention strategies in the pilot, Roberts said.

The mystery program will still test a variety of ideas, including more violence intervention, “drone-based situational awareness, license plate recognition and incident response systems for evidence preservation.”

Gunshot-detection technology is still only part of the pilot.

Roberts acknowledged that voters’ support for a technology her boss had scrapped prompted the administration to change course.

“The information from the referendum does play [into the mayor’s thinking] because … it spoke loudly. That’s what the community wants. So we are listening — not just to the alders. We’re listening to what the community wanted just as well,” Roberts said.

Input from police district personnel and a veiled warning from SoundThinking, the parent company of ShotSpotter, also contributed to Johnson's shift, Roberts said. The mayor got rid of ShotSpotter in 2024.

In an Oct. 27 letter, SoundThinking's attorney informed Roberts that, if the city was, in fact, planning to test crime-fighting strategies that included gunshot detection, ShotSpotter demanded to be part of it because the company was one of the “short-listed” firms.

A SoundThinking spokesperson said Johnson’s administration never contacted the company after its fall 2025 oral presentation and live-fire demonstration with the city. The spokesperson said the voters who backed the recent referendum on gunshot-detection technology "deserve to be heard, particularly in communities where gun violence is, unfortunately, a lived experience."

Far South Side Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), one of Johnson’s most outspoken City Council critics, has accused the mayor of using the pilot as a stalling tactic to get past the mayoral election.

Beale likened the mayor’s change in strategy to playing Russian roulette with the lives of everyday Chicagoans.

“People are bleeding out in the street every single day because we don't have this technology, and we don't have time to play games with a hypothetical pilot program that we're making up in order to make it seem like we're doing something,” Beale told Roberts.

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Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) reminded Roberts that Chicago has “gone more than two years without gunshot detection” and that bids to replace the technology formerly provided by ShotSpotter “came in 18 months ago.” Instead of choosing a replacement, Johnson announced a "no-bid pilot," Reilly said.

It’s been three years since Johnson honored a campaign promise to progressive supporters by canceling the city’s contract with ShotSpotter, which he derisively called a “walkie-talkie on a stick.”

Johnson and his progressive supporters viewed the technology as costly, ineffective and a contributor to overpolicing 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 competition to replace ShotSpotter. SoundThinking was one of 15 firms responding to a request for information and one of nine companies responding to a follow-up request for proposals.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) asked about the testing of gunshot-detection technologies during the bidding process — a process Roberts initially couldn't recall. She eventually characterized the tests as "demonstrations" in a controlled environment and argued that the pilot would allow for a better analysis.

Roberts was a no-show at another recent hearing. She infuriated City Council members by sending a letter informing them that the pilot program was about to begin in six police districts: Wentworth, Calumet, Englewood, Deering, Ogden and Harrison.

Against that backdrop, the nonbinding referendum garnered 72% support. On the day after the election, Johnson hinted strongly that he would not be moved by the overwhelming vote.

“I support technology, but it has to be technology that is credible. It has to be technology that’s actually effective. It has to be technology that safeguards our community from anything that could be detrimental to our privacy. So I’ve put forth a pilot," Johnson said then.

When Roberts first disclosed the mayor's change of heart, she had trouble explaining it, and Budget Chair Jason Ervin (28th) had difficulty even understanding what she was trying to say.

“What’s that mean in English?” Ervin asked Roberts.