Oakland's Shotspotter Equipment Records Voice Conversations
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A high-tech tool used to pinpoint gunfire can also record voice conversations on Oakland streets.
Shotspotter equipment captured the final words of a dying man who yelled out the suspect's nickname.
"Don't do me like that, Ar," the victim shouted.
That recording helped police identify the shooter, Arliton Johnson, and that doesn't sit well with privacy advocates in Oakland.
"We've been told by OPD for months that it does not record audio. Lo and behold, it records our voices," Oakland Privacy Working Group lawyer Brian Hofer said.
Hofer claims that Oakland Police have never publicly confirmed shotspotter's ability to record voices before a public safety meeting last week.
"Bring this stuff out into the open. We know technology is amazing and it's getting better and better. Let us have some input into debating whether it's appropriate."
