Holyoke Police held ShotSpotter news conference due to alarming number of activations

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – The Holyoke Police Department held a news conference on Wednesday to discuss their shot-spotter program.

The ShotSpotter program is a detection system that allows police to detect, find, and respond to gunfire.

Holyoke installed its ShotSpotter program in March, and now the police department says they have had an alarming number of activations. This equipment is positioned in strategic locations throughout the city to help assist the department in identifying the scope of the problem.

According to the Holyoke Police Department, in the past 6 months, their ShotSpotter system has detected 113 incidents involving gunfire, 72 of which happened near a playground and 27 near a school, and 110 incidents were reported near a business.

Holyoke police recovered 457 rounds, seven guns, and made 10 arrests. They also identified six victims. Police say that many of these shot spotter activations do not generate a 911 call from people in the area.

“I think the sheer number of shot spotter activations we’re seeing since March is kind of eye-opening,” said Detective Jay Parnell. Retired Captain Matt Moriarty also added, “For the amount of shots fired we’ve had, we are not being notified by citizens.”