Gunshot detection system leads to fireworks arrest

By CARL MACGOWAN

Nassau police have made their first arrest using a new technology that detects gunshots.

But the system, which uses microphones to report gunfire to police headquarters, may have worked too well.

When officers responded late Monday to a Roosevelt neighborhood, looking for someone firing a weapon, they found a teenager shooting off fireworks, Nassau police said.

The only gun on the scene was an unloaded antique pistol in the teen's waistband, said Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone, a police spokesman.

Repalone said ShotSpotter, the gunfire-detection system introduced by Nassau police last month, is not supposed to alert police to fireworks.

First Precinct police responded shortly before 11 p.m. Monday when ShotSpotter indicated possible gunfire on Mirin Avenue in Roosevelt, police said.

Officers found a 16-year-old boy lighting a bottle rocket and tossing it into the air while several friends watched, police said. As officers approached him, he dropped 21 bottle rockets to the ground, police said.

He was charged with unlawfully dealing with fireworks, a violation. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 24. The pistol the teen had was so old that it's not classified as a firearm, but officers did take it, Repalone said.

His arrest was the first resulting from the use of ShotSpotter, Repalone said, although it did previously lead police to two shootings in Roosevelt. No arrests have been made in those cases.

By BY CARL MACGOWAN
Posted Wednesday, August 5, 2009

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