Schools may get ShotSpotter tech
City staff discuss equipping park rangers with tasers, placing gunfire detection equipment on campuses
A Bakersfield city committee dedicated to public safety discussed Monday potentially arming park rangers with tasers and body-worn cameras while also proposing placing gunfire detection technology at local schools.
Councilman Chris Parlier, who represents Ward 7, amended his previous request to city staff about developing policies for park rangers to use tasers to include code enforcement officers at the Safe Neighborhoods & Community Relations committee.
Bakersfield Police Department Assistant Chief Brent Stratton said the evolution for their ShotSpotter technology, equipment which senses in certain locations to pinpoint gunfire and alert police, could be to have discussions with local school districts about placing it on campuses as shootings and homicides decreased after historic highs in Bakersfield.
“It’s worse than what we thought,” said city Parks Director Rick Anthony, of the problems plaguing local areas.
THE PARK RANGER PROGRAM
Bakersfield City Manager Christian Clegg noted in Monday’s meeting city staff are examining policies to give body-worn cameras and tasers to park rangers based on a previous referral by council members.
Michael Dobbs, the supervisor for the park rangers, noted tasers weren’t an option when initially fleshing out this new department. But Parlier said tasers are a “critical” piece of equipment for park rangers and he has also referred city staff to re-examine if code enforcement officers should carry them.
Dobbs noted his staff focused on de-escalation methods and hopes they never have to use their baton or pepper spray. Rangers also learn crisis-intervention skills.
But, “in today’s society, it happens,” Dobbs noted.
City staff also discussed updates after the park ranger program was approved in March and Dobbs was hired in the summer.
“We are still kind of in a soft launch stage,” Anthony said.
Sixteen park rangers and one supervisor have been hired. There are two vacancies that could be filled by either a park ranger or supervisor position, Anthony said. Administrative support staff could also be hired to this department.
Dobbs said the rangers hit every park every day, from 6 a.m. until midnight. But getting to 24-hour patrols wouldn’t happen with this staff, he added when Parlier asked how it could be done.
Their presence has led to decreased encampments and loiterers, he noted, while adding Dobbs said they encountered their first dead body in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park last week. Dobbs proposed rangers getting Narcan training, too.
Richard O’Neil, the president of the Kern River Parkway Foundation, noted he’s hopeful park rangers will make a difference on vandalism and encampments eating away at public spaces, but added it’s too soon to see if there’s been a dent in clearing parks.
Encampments just move from one place to another, or simply come back, he said.
A solution is going to take awhile, and it will take all of us to solve it, he said.
GUN VIOLENCE PROGRAMS
ShotSpotter has been used in Bakersfield since 2018, and schools may welcome the technology.
Assistant Chief Stratton said they’ve had “introductory meetings” with Bakersfield College about introducing ShotSpotter onto its campus. Police also requested Kern High School District and Kern County Superintendent of Schools consider placing the technology throughout their campuses.
The technology has been installed around 70 locations in Bakersfield. It detects gunfire and immediately tells police the location, according to previous reporting.
Stratton said after the meeting the ShotSpotter’s radius can range from a few feet to miles depending on the program.
“Seconds matter,” Stratton said of responding to shootings.
Though local schools haven’t experienced mass shootings recently, Stratton added this technology allows them to be prepared.
ShotSpotter’s effect shows through statistics.
Before ShotSpotter, only 8 percent to 9 percent of shootings police arrive at would someone have called for police.
But the areas with ShotSpotter allow police to become aware of 100 percent of the shootings in that area. Now, people are calling in double digits to tell police of gunfire in areas monitored by the equipment, he added.
That builds trust between the community and police, he said.
City staff also discussed statistics regarding shootings and homicides in Bakersfield, which have dropped since skyrocketing two years ago.