Police marksmen to carry out live gunfire exercise in Birmingham
Dec 8 2010 by Mark Cowan, Birmingham Mail
POLICE marksmen are to carry out a live gunfire exercise on the streets of Birmingham to fine-tune a hi-tech ‘bullet beater’ that can pinpoint gunmen when they open fire.
The ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System can alert police to the scene of street shootings within seconds and is already being used across America to slash the country’s huge gun crime problem.
Its sensors can tell where and from what angle a shot was fired, the number of weapons used, their calibre and even if a gunman was moving at speed.
Birmingham will be the first city in the UK to test the system and several other forces will be keeping a close eye on how it works.
The network of sensors were installed on inner-city streets of Handsworth and Lozells over the past few weeks. Now firearms officers have to calibrate them.
A report to the Police Authority revealed: “Practically, this means police officers discharging a set number of live rounds at a series of pre-identified sites.
