(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that funding to restore the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system to Suffolk County was approved today by the Suffolk County Legislature.
“Children should not have to go to sleep to the sound of gunfire. Mothers should not have to worry that their children will not come home and residents shouldn’t have to worry that a gun fight is going to spill out on to the street before them,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This technology is going to be placed in those areas that are subjected to over 50 percent of the gun violence in our county. These under-served communities are besieged by gunfire at a staggeringly higher rate than other communities in Suffolk County. All of our communities deserve to be safe.”
Suffolk County is comprised of 2,373 square miles – 22 of those square miles – less than 1% of Suffolk County — is subjected to over 50% of the gun violence. Those areas are Huntington Station, North Amityville, Wyandanch, Brentwood, Bay Shore, Central Islip, Coram, Gordon Heights, North Bellport, Shirley and Mastic Beach.
Since he took office in January, DA Tierney has met with mothers who lost their children to gun violence in the very same communities where he has proposed to place the ShotSpotter technology. The technology was utilized in Suffolk County in the past but was discontinued in 2019. In 2020-2021, after the county discontinued the ShotSpotter program, shooting incidents doubled. In 2021, shootings continued to increase another 34%. In 2021, there were 365 shootings — 128 victims were shot and 32 of those victims died.
DA Tierney’s Office will work with its law enforcement partners, schools, religious institutions and business community to safeguard areas most threatened by gun violence. This funding will also allow gang prosecutors and investigators from the District Attorney’s Office to go after gang violence in a more coordinated manner.