The Downtown Denver Partnership has teamed up with Denver Police to bring gunshot detecting technology to downtown Denver.

Authorities planned to test out the monitoring devices – made by ShotSpotter, a Newark, California company – by firing gunshots into bullet traps on Thursday night.

They planned to start in northwest Denver to recalibrate existing sensors and then do the test firing in downtown later in the evening, police said.

“This technology has really changed the game,” Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said during a news conference Thursday at the Denver Police Crime Lab. “We want to send a message loud and clear to the people of Denver that this remarkably safe city is now even safer.”

“And we want to send a message to those who would commit gun violence, that through partnership, through collaboration, through innovative technology, that we will hold them accountable for their crimes,” Pazen added.

Denver Police began using the ShotSpotter technology in other parts of the city early in 2015. Since then, the devices have resulted in 220 arrests and 173 firearms recovered, police said.

When a shot is detected, ShotSpotter notifies Denver’s 911 operators with information of the incident. Police said the sensors can triangulate the location of the shooting within at least 20 feet, but more often within 5 feet.

Pazen said there of dozens of sensors now installed. He said expansion of the program will give police coverage of areas such as Civic Center Park, Union Station and the Ballpark neighborhood.

Police were issuing flyers in those neighborhoods this week to alert resident of the test firings.

While the sensors will help speed police response, he urged residents to continue to call 911 if they hear shots fired.

As part of the expansion, Denver police will create a Real Time Information Center that will integrate the ShotSpotter technology with the city’s High Activity Location Observation cameras to capture evidence and identify suspects.

Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, said the downtown business district association will contribute $75,000 for a three-year service contract to expand the system into downtown. That contribution matches the police department’s $75,000 cost.

“Going forward, we also know that in terms of the public sector and the private sector coming together that that is absolutely the way that you address safety in a community,” Door said. “It is the responsibility for all of us.”

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