MARTINSVILLE, VA-In an effort to enhance the ability to solve and prosecute gun-related crimes, the Martinsville Police Department has installed 140 gunshot detectors throughout the City.
The department received an Operation Ceasefire grant from the Attorney General’s Office that provided complete funding for the $80,000 project.
The gunshot detectors, made by Flock Safety, have been placed in locations selected by the company to achieve maximum coverage throughout the city.
The devices operate using sound detection and triangulation. The detectors’ microphones are programmed to register sounds that match the audio frequency of a gunshot.
Based on triangulation and multiple detectors working together, the Flock Safety software can direct officers within a few meters of the location from where the gunshot was fired.
This technology will enable police to respond to gunshots more efficiently, adding to the department’s ability to solve and prosecute gun-related crimes.
“As a department, we’re committed to improving safety and reducing crime in our City,” said Police Chief Rob Fincher, “we are actively looking for ethical ways to use technology to aid in prevention, enforcement, and investigations.”
The detectors work with the same Flock Safety software as the department’s license plate readers that are also located throughout the City.
While acknowledging that citizens have raised concerns about privacy regarding the use of technology in policing, Fincher reassures that these devices will be used ethically, as they only monitor the frequency of gunshots and will not monitor other sounds.
“Protecting the privacy of our citizens is a priority for our department, said Fincher, “we would not install any technology that would infringe on that.”
(WASHINGTON) — While tens of millions of early votes have already been cast, there are still millions of Americans who will be heading to the polls on Election Day. Experts predict the 2024 election will be one of the closest in history, with several key states still in contention that could determine the next president.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have been actively campaigning over the past few months in several swing states. This year, seven swing states are in intense competition: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
To win the White House, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes, different combinations from the collective total of 93 electoral votes from these swing states will ultimately determine the winner.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, with polling hours varying by state law. Here’s an update on three of the seven swing states in the final hours leading up to the election.
In Pennsylvania, young voters ready to make an impact
Pennsylvania, with 19 electoral college votes, is considered the key to the election and many believe the winner of Pennsylvania will become the next president.
In this battleground state, ABC News spoke with young voters who believe their vote could significantly impact this election. These voters have observed Harris and Trump competing often in their state.
Both candidates held many stops and rallies on Monday.
Two first-time voters, 18-year-old Isaac Gourley and Caleb Root, will be at one of Pennsylvania’s thousands of polling places. They attend Redbank Valley High School in Western Pennsylvania.
They have been listening to both presidential candidates and will decide their vote based on their priorities.
“What stuck out to me was just their — kind of like international — policy,” Gourley said. “You know, how we talk to other people.”
According to a Tufts University study, about 50% of registered voters 18-29-year-olds voted in the 2020 election — an all-time high. In Pennsylvania, they turned out at a rate even higher than the national average: 54%.
“I pay attention a lot to the economy,” Root said.
The rules for counting ballots in Pennsylvania indicate that it may take days to determine the winner. Mailed-in votes cannot be counted until polls open at 7 a.m. on Election Day.
Helene won’t stop voters in North Carolina
Despite initial concerns, voter turnout rates in the 25 North Carolina counties hardest hit by Hurricane Helene surpassed statewide early voting averages leading up to Election Day, with more than 760,000 total ballots cast.
North Carolina and its 16 electoral votes are especially crucial in the razor-thin contest between Harris and Trump. According to the latest NYT/Siena College polling, Harris has a narrow lead over Trump in a race that remains too close to call.
In this historic election that hinges on voter turnout, both campaigns are targeting women, the country’s largest voting bloc.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll shows a clear gender gap between voters. Trump is up 5 points with male voters, while Harris is up by 11 points with women.
During early voting, young women on the North Carolina State University campus marched to the polls with a pro-choice message, inviting men to join them.
“I’m really scared that I feel like I don’t know the rights I have as a woman,” Lizzie Pascal, a student there, said.
Harris leads suburban women voters nationally by 15 points overall; however, Trump has a four-point advantage among white women, according to the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll. That demographic is widely believed to have contributed to his victory in 2016.
Sandy Joiner, president of the Western Wake County Republican Club, has worked to canvass with Republican women competing for state and local seats.
“We have knocked on around 12,000 doors in our area,” Joiner said. “And we have, we have knocked all the doors, so we don’t have any doors left. So what we’re doing now is we’re knocking doors in areas that may not have been reached.”
The same goals drive these women, whether they are encouraging voters to turn out in storm zones, suburbs or on college campuses. Women are likely to hold the key to determining who ascends to the White House when all the votes are counted on and after election night.
How Michigan is a must-win for both Trump and Harris
Experts say Michigan is a must-win for both sides, which is why both candidates campaigned extensively across the Great Lakes.
Once part of the Democrats’ so-called “blue wall,” polling shows that Michigan — and its 15 electoral votes — is a tossup.
While early votes show an increase in women and young voters in college towns, one of the groups that was once solidly Democratic is no longer true blue: union members.
ABC News spoke with Douglas King, an autoworker and UAW member for nearly 30 years. He says the economy, like for so many other Americans, is his top issue.
“I was raised to believe that the Democrats are the party of the working people,” King said. “And maybe at one time they were. I don’t feel that way now.”
Many union leadership endorsed Harris.
In this tightly contested race, the more than 500,000 union workers are crucial for Harris; however, some of them appear to be moving away from voting for the Democratic Party. King, who voted for Barack Obama twice, has decided to support Trump for president for the third time.
“People are afraid to say they’re voting for Trump because Trump supporters are put in a box, that they’re these hateful, racist people that are homophobic, and it’s just not true,” King said. “Trump has a lot of support on the plant floor.”
There are cracks in the old coalition that has consistently voted for Democrats for the past 30 years. However, Trump broke through the blue wall in 2016 by narrowly defeating Hillary Clinton by roughly 10,000 votes in Michigan.
(NEW YORK) — A frustrated Gov. Kathy Hochul has called for federal assistance after the latest drone sighting temporarily shut down an airport Friday night, the latest in a series of mysterious occurrences taking part across the country.
Officials at Stewart International Airport, located roughly 60 miles north of New York City, said they shut down their runways for an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration alerted them that a drone was spotted in the area around 9:30 p.m.
“There were no impacts to flight operations during the closure,” the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.
Hochul said in a statement Saturday that the incident is the latest drone sighting in the state since mid-November and expressed her frustration.
“This has gone too far,” she said.
Hochul said she has called on the New York State Intelligence Center to probe the drone sighting incidents but called on the federal government to do more.
Specifically, she called on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, which would strengthen the FAA’s oversight of drones and give more authority to state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate the activity.
“Extending these powers to New York State and our peers is essential. Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people.”
Residents and officials have been looking for answers after drones have been seen hovering in the sky in several locations, especially in central New Jersey, since mid-November. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and several members of Congress have also called for the federal government to investigate the sightings.
The White House downplayed some of the concerns of residents in a press briefing Thursday with national security communications adviser John Kirby saying “many” of the reported drone sightings appear to be lawfully operated manned aircraft.
He said they have been unable to “corroborate some of the reported sightings” using their detection techniques, but are still investigating.
In the meantime, the FAA and federal officials are taking precautions because of the drones.
The agency issued a temporary no-drone zone during Saturday afternoon’s Army-Navy Game taking place at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance are scheduled to attend the game.
The FAA has also imposed temporary drone flight restrictions in New Jersey over the Picatinny Arsenal military base in Morris County and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Somerset County in response to the reported drone activity.
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.
