MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb County leaders say they're considering investing in new technology that other larger cities, like Atlanta and Savannah, have already put money into.
Mayor Lester Miller says based on data from other cities, the new tech could cut down on gunfire by 30 to 40 percent and increase the amount of cases solved.
"'Bop, bop, bop.' Gunshots every night. You know, bodies being found," said TaJa Willis. "This city is crazy."
Willis says the ringing of gunshots echo every night through his neighborhood in Unionville.
Folks in the neighborhood pointed out to our crews how shots have riddled stores down the block.
"As soon as I walk from the store, I hear 'bop-bop-bop'. If I was still there, I would have been shot, too," Willis said.
Mayor Lester Miller and Sheriff David Davis say they want to address these concerns that Willis and others have -- using new technology. It's called Shot Spotter, a gunshot detection system that alerts dispatch when shots are fired.
"What it does is it uses acoustics in order to triangulate and determine pretty much exactly where a gunshot goes off," Davis said.
It pinpoints the number of shots and location of where the gun was used.
Davis and Miller say the county has pulled data from the sheriff's office and US Attorney's Office, narrowing down on areas with high call volumes of shots fired.
"Parts of Houston Avenue Bloomfield. Pleasant Hill. There's a number of different areas that we're going to look at," Davis said.
The sheriff and mayor say this new technology pairs with resources they already have like surveillance cameras and the NIBIN system, or the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network.
"So if we get the shots fired in the area, we can go directly to that area on that street, on that lot. We can find those shell casings. We can put those in our system and trace them to other potential crimes that's being created," Miller said.
Davis says the goal is to deter people from shooting overall.
"If someone knows that you're going to be pinpointing it in a specific area... firing off a gun, then they may think twice before they go doing the shooting," Davis said.
"Police can try but at the same time, it's more to these streets than what y'all know," Willis said.
But he says the "more" he's referring to are the certain mindsets in the community.
"As long as we pull together and stay together, we'll be alright. The killing is going to keep continuing if we don't stand together," Willis said.
Next week, Mayor Miller says the county's strategic team will go through a Shot Spotter demonstration with the company and talk cost.
Miller says they're still determining how much the system will cost and how many systems the county will purchase. Mayor Miller says they're considering using American Rescue Plan money on the new tech.