(The Center Square) – Chicago Ald. David Moore is fighting to strip Mayor Brandon Johnson of his unilateral authority to end the city’s contract with the ShotSpotter gunfire detection program.

With Johnson already on record with his plan to completely phase out the program by year’s end, Moore is now proposing legislation that would require a full City Council vote before the city can take any such action, or even end funding for any of the city’s violence prevention programs.

After allies of the Mayor earlier this month banded to block the measure, Moore is now vowing to bring it up for another vote as soon as the next regular City Council meeting on April 22.

“I’m listening to my constituents number one, and then I’m listening to the subject matter expert, which is the police superintendent who the Mayor put in place as the person that’s responsible for making sure that we reduce crime in the city,” Moore told The Center Square. “This is a tool that he has said he needed.”

While Johnson and top City Hall officials have gone as far as even questioning the legality of what’s being proposed, Moore argues that it’s more than just coincidence that the measure has the full support of many of the alderman fighting to keep the peace in some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods.

“Sometimes you got to look at the facts and you have to look at what the residents that are impacted by gun violence are saying and if you don’t, then I think it, it’s an injustice to those residents,” Moore added. “Residents when gunshots go off do not call 911 and a lot of times the ShotSpotter alert is what’s alerting the police to get to the situation. Not only is it saving lives if someone is shot, but it’s also preventing retaliation because the police then are where the shooting takes place.”

Moore’s proposal would also require CPD to collect additional data about ShotSpotter’s accuracy and effectiveness and share it with City Council members on a monthly basis.