Case Study: Birmingham Police Department achieves a major drop in New Year’s Eve gunfire with SoundThinking’s ShotSpotter

Birmingham Police Department cuts New Year’s Eve gunfire 37% with SoundThinking

The Birmingham Police Department, a law enforcement agency serving a city of 210,000, utilized ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology from vendor SoundThinking to address the challenge of persistent celebratory gunfire, particularly during the holiday season.

SoundThinking's solution involved providing data for an intelligence-led initiative called Operation Close Out. This strategy allowed the police to deploy over 100 officers to targeted, high-risk areas. The results were significant, including a 61% reduction in gunfire incidents from 2023 to 2025 and a 37% reduction in celebratory gunfire from 2024 to 2025, leading to arrests and weapon recoveries that improved community safety.

Birmingham Police Department