Cambridge City Council Votes on Reactivating ShotSpotter Technology

The Cambridge City Council is scheduled to vote on Monday regarding the temporary reactivation of ShotSpotter, an acoustic gunshot detection system. The council previously discontinued the technology in May after residents raised concerns about privacy and the disproportionate impact of the system on minority neighborhoods.

Local officials are reconsidering the ban following the July 4 fatal shooting of Xavier Bautista, a 32-year-old employee of the city's Department of Public Works. Bautista was shot near the intersection of Broadway and Norfolk streets around 4:30 a.m., but first responders did not locate him for approximately one hour.

Demetris Grimsley, the fiancée of Bautista, has advocated for the return of the technology, suggesting that faster alerts could have reduced the response time to find him. While police have arrested and charged one man in connection with the killing, they believe multiple suspects were involved in the incident.