Despite the Cambridge scrapping its gunshot detection system over concerns it was “racist”, Bautisa’s grieving sister says her brother might have been found sooner if it had still been running.
The fatal shooting of a 32-year-old Cambridge father has stoked anger and fierce criticism after it emerged that city leaders had prioritized concerns about racial bias and surveillance surrounding a technology police have said could have sped up emergency response.
Reports have confirmed that Xavier Bautista, a Cambridge Department of Public Works employee of Hispanic origin, and the father of a 5-year-old boy, was found fatally shot near Broadway and Norfolk Street early on the morning of July 4. Investigators believe he was shot shortly before 4:30 a.m., but his body was not discovered until about an hour later, when a passerby called 911 after no gunfire had been reported.
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The killing occurred less than two months after the Cambridge City Council voted 5-2-2 to dismantle the city's ShotSpotter gunfire detection system, a network of acoustic sensors designed to automatically alert police when gunshots are detected, even if no one calls 911. Following Bautista's death, the Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Association and Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association sharply criticized the council's decision. "There was no opportunity for the victim to receive emergency aid for approximately 60 minutes," the unions said in a joint statement. "If ShotSpotter detection was received at the time of this incident, Cambridge emergency personnel would have had the opportunity to discover the scene much sooner than 60 minutes after the incident, and render emergency aid to the victim."
City spokesman Jeremy Warnick acknowledged that the intersection where Bautista was killed had previously been covered by ShotSpotter before the system was disabled. "It is plausible that the ShotSpotter system could have resulted in first responders arriving on-scene more quickly, particularly in this case when the shooting was not initially reported via 9-1-1," Warnick said.
Civil liberties advocates, including left-wing surveillance watchdog Digital Fourth, urged the city to abandon the system, while several council members raised concerns that ShotSpotter could contribute to disproportionate police deployment in Black and Hispanic communities. Before the council voted to eliminate ShotSpotter in May, acting Police Commissioner Pauline Wells defended keeping the technology.
She told council members there had been at least 11 incidents where ShotSpotter alerted officers to gunfire when no one had called 911. "That means 11 moments when no one reached for the phone," Wells said during the debate. "ShotSpotter was the only reason help was there at all." Bautista's family has focused on seeking justice while mourning the loss of a devoted father and brother.
Despite Cambridge scrapping its gunshot detection system over concerns it was "racist", Bautista's grieving sister says her brother might have been found sooner if it had still been running. "My brother was laying on the ground for an hour," said Victoria Angeles. "The idea that anything could have helped him should have been used."
"I want justice for Xavier, for the family, for our son. I think we all deserve that," his fiancee Demetris added.
No arrests have been announced, and investigators from the Cambridge Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, and Middlesex District Attorney's Office continue to investigate the killing. City officials have scheduled a public meeting to discuss the investigation and answer residents' questions.
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