False Positives was a multi-channel audio installation, installed as part of Movements Toward Freedom, on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, September 20, 2024-February 2, 2025. It is the first installation work to come from my research into ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology.

“Ben Coleman's sonic artwork False Positives confronts the unintended consequences of ShotSpotter, an acoustic gunshot detection system. ShotSpotter uses sensors to detect potential gunfire, transmitting audio to a review center where it's analyzed. Misidentified non-gunfire sounds, termed "false positives" can mobilize police to investigate the area near the triggered sensor. Leaked internal ShotSpotter documents reveal a list of sounds that are so frequently flagged by the system as gunshots that they have been assigned codes, including "FC" for firecracker. Many other sounds that we associate with celebration and joy can be mistaken for gunfire by ShotSpotter as well: claps, cheers, champagne bottles uncorking, party poppers, balloon pops. Exploring the sonic confusion between these real and mischaracterized threats, Coleman's installation transforms the museum's entrance into a charged and vibrant soundscape.

ShotSpotter technology is highly racialized. The sensors are frequently installed in neighborhoods with predominantly Black and Latinx communities which are already historically over-policed and are less likely to be found in majority-white neighborhoods. The system's tendency to detect false positives has also contributed to an exponential increase in negative interactions between the police and residents of these neighborhoods. False Positives' juxtaposition of sounds challenges ShotSpotter's pervasive presence in the United States and Denver, highlighting technology's role in civic surveillance and the perpetuation of racial inequity.

The City of Denver has installed ShotSpotter in five neighborhoods, including the downtown area where MCA Denver is located. There are sensors installed on city light poles within two blocks of the Museum.”

-Description courtesy of Museum of Contemporary Art Denver