LMPD officer suspended for Facebook posts sues chief claiming free speech violation

I agree.

Technology should be viewed as another tool in the kit, not a substitute for good police work. We're (not just LMPD, but law enforcement in general) becoming overly-dependent on tech solutions to ground-based problems instead of getting back to the basics. It's not limited to a LE issue, but rather society-wide; all the way from parents who don't parent (or care), to a broken education system, to a justice system which is becoming too complacent and sympathetic to criminals.

The Shotspotter system, by itself, won't solve the problem. Thirty years ago, the technology currently available didn't exist, but crime still did. Of course offenses occurred back then, but the criminal element knew the police wouldn't take any **** from them, and surely that knowledge made more than one perp think twice before committing a crime.

Was it a perfect system then? No. Is it perfect today? Hardly. Will it ever be? Probably not.

But a paradigm shift back to the basics is needed. From straight-forward enforcement that promises offenders they WILL go to jail every single time it's warranted, to a correctional system that KEEPS offenders that NEED to remain locked-up, locked-up.

It's time people recognize that it isn't law enforcement's responsibility to try to fix all the ills of society. Their primary function is to enforce the laws, and hold accountable those who choose to violate those laws, period.