The police department is using technology that relays gunshot locations directly to patrol cars.

Gunshots are considered so commonplace in the city's Bayview neighborhood that some residents don't even bother calling police to report the violence when it happens. "That's a shame," lamented one woman. "I have a 7-year-old and he is actually used to it. He doesn't jump or anything like that, and that's a shame."

New, wireless sensors installed in the Bayview will not only be able to better track how much gunfire erupts in thecomunity, but will be able to pinpoint where it's coming from. The technology is called "Shotspotter" and it is already being used in several other Bay Area cities. However, the technology the SFPD has selected transmits the gunshot locations directly to a nearby patrol car, instead of routing it through a 911 dispatch center. That means authorities will get the information almost instantly.

"It also allows us to determine the direction the gun was discharged, and what type of weapon was used, be it an automatic weapon or a rifle and the like," described San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "The consequence of that, in real time, we're able to assess the situation before someone calls it in, and the perversity is the vast majority of guns that are discharged are never called in, so we don't even know there's an incident until somebody ultimately reports in a victim."

The system is costing the city more than $400,000, and will first be employed just in the Bayview neighborhood. There are plans to expand the system to the Western Addition in April.

KCBS' Holly Quan reports