Shot Locator:
     A SHOT RINGING OUT IN THE NIGHT IS AN UNMISTAKABLY JARRING SOUND. 
WHETHER IT'S A LETHAL SHOT, OR EVEN CELEBRATORY GUNFIRE, POLICE WANT TO TRACK IT
DOWN IMMEDIATELY.  BUT ITS NOT ACTUALLY SO EASY TO FIGURE OUT WHERE A RINGING
SHOT RANG FROM.  FOR ONE THING THE SOUND ECHOES FROM STREET TO STREET AND
NUMEROUS PEOPLE MIGHT REPORT THE SOUND.  

     Showen: "Police would love to be able to find and stop this gunfire, but when a
911 call comes in right now, there's no real way for them to respond, . . .they won't know
preceisely where to go to. so you really eed an instrumetn that can tell precisely where
the gunfire is."

     ROBERT SHOWEN IS THE FOUNDER OF TRILON TECHNOLOGY WHICH MARKETS A
SYSTEM THAT HELPS POLICE FIND THE SOURCE OF THAT SHOT BASED ON METHODS THAT
WERE INVENTED TO MAP EARTHQUAKES.  WHEN AN EARTHQUAKE HITS--SOUND WAVES, OR
SEISMIC WAVES TRAVEL THROUGH THE GROUND.  SEISMOLOGISTS WATCH FOR WHEN THE
WAVES HIT SENSORS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS AND THEN FOLLOW THE WAVES
BACKWARDS TO FIND THE EARTHQUAKE'S EPICENTER.   AND THE SAME TECHNOLOGY CAN
BE USED TO TRACK THE SOUND WAVES OF A GUN SHOT.  SCOTT VERMEER IS CAPTAIN OF
THE REDWOOD COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT IN CALIFORNIA WHERE THEY'RE TESTING THE
SYSTEM. 

     Vermeer: "Once the guns fire, the sensors pick up the sound of the gunshot.  the
sensors then triangulate that sound pinpoining the spot, which is transferred through
phone lines to the police department."

     SHOWEN IS HOPEFUL THAT THE SYSTEM WILL BECOME A DETERRENT FOR RANDOM
GUNFIRE.
  
     Showen: "If this proves useful to police operations and we have every expectation
that it will, then it could make a major impact in reducing urban gunfire across the
country."