On Monday, May 18th, the Cambridge City Council voted 5 to 2 in support of a policy order directing the City Manager to end its ShotSpotter contract and remove the microphones from Cambridge neighborhoods. We want to thank our supporters and everyone else who spoke in favor of this policy order. Cambridge will be a safer city once ShotSpotter is removed.
This victory was because of years of organizing, testimony, research, and community pressure. The campaign to end ShotSpotter surveillance devices in Cambridge was led by the Stop ShotSpotter Camberville Coalition made up of The Black Response, SURJ Boston, Defund Somerville PD, BDS Boston and the Massachusetts Pirate Party. The campaign received vital support from:
- ACLU of Massachusetts
- Alliance of Cambridge Tenants
- Digital Fourth
- Harvard Cyber Law Clinic
- Muslim Justice League
- New England War Tax Resistance
- Unitarian Universalist First Parish of Cambridge
- Democratic Socialist of America
- Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Fund
and research support from the Community Resource Hub, Law for Black Lives, Tufts University Tisch College Community Research Center, and Boston University Spark!
We encourage community members to thank Councillors Ayah Al-Zubi, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Marc McGovern, Patty Nolan, and Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui for voting to get rid of ShotSpotter. Councillors Tim Flaherty and E. Denise Simmons opposed it; Councillor Cathie Zusy and Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem abstained.
This effort is not over. We still need to pressure the City Manager to terminate the contract and ensure that the microphones are removed. If you see any ShotSpotters, see the image above for what they look like, be sure to email us where it is so we can map them and verify that they are removed.
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