ShotSpotter / SoundThinking Contract Process Details (Boston Police Department)
| Tracking # |
B003003-092523 |
| Multi Request | ShotSpotter / SoundThinking Contract Process Details |
| Submitted | Sept. 24, 2023 |
| Due | Oct. 6, 2023 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Alex Marthews
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
Documents, emails and text messages relating to the expiration of the current Boston municipal contract with ShotSpotter, discussions of the bidding process for its renewal; anything referring to "Phase I" and "Phase II" of the ShotSpotter coverage area; and anything referring to other expansions of the services or types of services provided by SoundThinking.
In Exhibit B of the current Service Level Agreement, page 114, ShotSpotter (now rebranded as "SoundThinking") commits to detect at least "90% of unsuppressed, outdoor gunfire incidents, using standard, commercially available rounds above .25 caliber [...] Each Service Level measurement shall be determined quarterly, the results of which will be reviewed during the periodic account review meetings with Customer." We specifically request any records relating to these quarterly determinations or periodic account review meetings, and any information relating to adherence or non adherence to the contracted Service Levels, and any information as to how "gunfire incident" is defined.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, and is not made for commercial usage.
I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Alex Marthews
From: Boston Police Department
Dear Alex Marthews
Thank you for your interest in public records of Boston Police Department. Your request has been received and is being processed. Your request was received in this office on 9/25/2023 10:18:07 PM and given the reference number B003003-092523 for tracking purposes.
If this is a media request, please contact the Office of Media Relations directly at 617.343.4520.
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
Documents, emails and text messages relating to the expiration of the current Boston municipal contract with ShotSpotter, discussions of the bidding process for its renewal; anything referring to "Phase I" and "Phase II" of the ShotSpotter coverage area; and anything referring to other expansions of the services or types of services provided by SoundThinking.
In Exhibit B of the current Service Level Agreement, page 114, ShotSpotter (now rebranded as "SoundThinking") commits to detect at least "90% of unsuppressed, outdoor gunfire incidents, using standard, commercially available rounds above .25 caliber [...] Each Service Level measurement shall be determined quarterly, the results of which will be reviewed during the periodic account review meetings with Customer." We specifically request any records relating to these quarterly determinations or periodic account review meetings, and any information relating to adherence or non adherence to the contracted Service Levels, and any information as to how "gunfire incident" is defined.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, and is not made for commercial usage.
I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Alex Marthews
Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. Again, thank you for using the Public Records Center.
Director, Public Information
Boston Police Department
Track the issue status and respond at: https://bostonma.govqa.us/WEBAPP//_rs/RequestEdit.aspx?rid=26596
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Massachusetts Public Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 25, 2023. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #B003003-092523.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Boston Police Department
--- Please respond above this line ---
01/25/2024 RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of September 25, 2023., Reference # B003003-092523 Dear Alex, You have requested documents that are potentially in the possession, custody or control of the Boston Police Department under the Massachusetts Public Records Law (G. L. c. 66, § 10). Specifically, you stated:
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
Documents, emails and text messages relating to the expiration of the current Boston municipal contract with ShotSpotter, discussions of the bidding process for its renewal; anything referring to "Phase I" and "Phase II" of the ShotSpotter coverage area; and anything referring to other expansions of the services or types of services provided by SoundThinking.
In Exhibit B of the current Service Level Agreement, page 114, ShotSpotter (now rebranded as "SoundThinking") commits to detect at least "90% of unsuppressed, outdoor gunfire incidents, using standard, commercially available rounds above .25 caliber [...] Each Service Level measurement shall be determined quarterly, the results of which will be reviewed during the periodic account review meetings with Customer." We specifically request any records relating to these quarterly determinations or periodic account review meetings, and any information relating to adherence or non adherence to the contracted Service Levels, and any information as to how "gunfire incident" is defined.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, and is not made for commercial usage.
I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Alex Marthews
Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ We have reviewed our files and have located records that correspond to your request. These records have been released to the Public Records Center . Click the link below to login to the Records Center and retrieve the requested records. Please note the a department was only able to locate one BPD email that met your above-described criteria, if you would like the Department to conduct a different search please feel free to submit another public records request specifying new search terms. Police Records Request - B003003-092523 Thank you for your patience in awaiting this information. Sincerely, Martha DeMaio Admin OPC 617-343-6016
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Public Records Center.
From: Alex Marthews
Thank you for the single document provided relating to the proposed contract renewal.
Please respond to the other elements of the public records request, as follows:
- Any documents, emails or other materials referring to "Phase I" and "Phase II" of the ShotSpotter coverage area" - at a minimum, this would include, but not be limited to, documents I already know are in your possession, including a map of the proposed ShotSpotter expansion area that you circulated to Boston City Council as part of the 800+ pages of documents during the public process relating to the surveillance ordinance in 2021. Given that I already have that document, I know that it is not plausible that the only document you have that discusses this expansion is an invoice that doesn't specify the area of the expansion or discuss the basis for choosing it.
- You do not respond at all to the element of the request, "In Exhibit B of the current Service Level Agreement, page 114, ShotSpotter (now rebranded as "SoundThinking") commits to detect at least "90% of unsuppressed, outdoor gunfire incidents, using standard, commercially available rounds above .25 caliber [...] Each Service Level measurement shall be determined quarterly, the results of which will be reviewed during the periodic account review meetings with Customer." We specifically request any records relating to these quarterly determinations or periodic account review meetings, and any information relating to adherence or non adherence to the contracted Service Levels, and any information as to how "gunfire incident" is defined." If there are no records of any such quarterly determinations or periodic account review meetings having happened, please specify that there are no responsive documents, rather than simply disregarding entirely this important element of the request.
- I also ask for "anything referring to other expansions of the services or types of services provided by SoundThinking." To elucidate, this is intended to capture any documents where ShotSpotter (now SoundThinking) and the City discuss an expansion of the contract to cover other services currently provided by SoundThinking. SoundThinking currently refers to four services - ShotSpotter, "CrimeTracer", "CaseBuilder" and "ResourceRouter", as their "SafetySmart" platform. Please conduct searches on these keywords. I find it implausible that, for one of SoundThinking's larger municipal contracts, they would not have discussed with the City whether the City was open to expanding the scope of work SoundThinking performs.
Finally, it took four months for you to supply a single, responsive document, while ignoring most of the request. Given that the contract expires in only five months, I'm giving you fair warning that if I do not receive an adequate response within the ten-day limit specified in the statute to this follow-up, I will promptly appeal this response to the Secretary of State's office.
Best wishes
Alex.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Massachusetts Public Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 25, 2023. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #B003003-092523.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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