The Suffolk County Legislature approved funding for the return of a gunshot detection system Tuesday, with Huntington Station one of the areas designated for its use.
ShotSpotter was put into use in Suffolk County in 2011 but the program was halted after 2018 when police said it was ineffective, sometimes producing false reports of gunshots.
District Attorney Ray Tierney welcomed its reinstatement.
“Children should not have to go to sleep to the sound of gunfire. Mothers should not have to worry
that their children will not come home and residents shouldn’t have to worry that a gun fight is
going to spill out on to the street before them.This technology is going to be placed in those areas that are subjected to over 50 percent of the gun violence in our county. These under-served communities are besieged by gunfire at a staggeringly higher rate than other communities in Suffolk County. All of our communities deserve to be safe.”
Tierney’s office said that the that 1 percent of the county experiences more than 50 percent of the gunfire, including Huntington Station,North Amityville, Wyandanch, Brentwood, Bay Shore, Central Islip, Coram, Gordon Heights, North Bellport, Shirley and Mastic Beach.
The technology is designed to help police quickly locate the source of gunfire.