CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -- A new, highly advanced program to track and detect gunfire is coming to Charlotte.
Charlotte city council voted unanimously Monday night to bring the Shotspotter technology to one of the city's neighborhoods.
The program detects gunfire and pinpoints the exact location in real-time.
It's expensive. The city approved $50,000 to try the program for a year.
Deputy Chief Harold Medlock with CMPD said the public should see it as an investment to make the city safer.
"It's another way for us to make sure that neighborhoods are protected," he said. "We're gonna of course take some time to evaluate the system, but we think it has long-term, positive effects for Charlotte Mecklenburg."
For neighbors in Avondale Oaks, who say gunfire is nothing unusual, it's welcome idea.
"We do hear gunfire back there pretty much every few days," said neighbor Christina, who wanted WBTV to protect her identity.
The community is across the street from Theresa Elder Park, where the body of a pregnant teenager was found in some woods at the park. So far, police have not arrested a suspect for the shooting of 17-year-old Hawa Gabbidon.
Police in other cities from Boston to Birmingham to Wilmington say it works.
The series of antennas attached to telephone poles, would dispatch officers to the location of the gunfire with accuracy of within a few feet.
It will in just one neighborhood to start. The coverage includes acoustic sensor mounted on buildings to help detect the gunfire.
There is concern such sensitive technology would put officers squarely in harm's way.
But Medlock said that comes with the job, and every officer is prepared for that.
"We're running to the danger as others are running away from it," he said. "That's our job."
The Shot spotter technology won't be up and running until after the Democratic National Convention.
Copyright 2012 WBTV. All rights reserved.
