Listen to this as a podcast:
Officials in Los Angeles are looking into implementing a text message system for 911 emergency services that would allow people to send not only text messages, but also photos and videos from their cell phones when immediate assistance is required.
Officials told the L.A. Police Commission that they were beginning to seek money to install the new system, which they believe could aid crime fighting by providing callers with alternative methods for alerting authorities and police with new visual evidence.
‘Sometimes a person calls 911 and says they just saw a robbery and they’ve snapped an image or video of the getaway car,’ said Sgt. Lee Sands. ‘We want to find a way to get that to officers in the field as fast as possible.’
Text messages can also help.
‘There are circumstances when a person during a kidnap or robbery can’t talk to an operator but they can message them,’ Sands said.
In New York state this week, police stopped an alleged kidnapper after his victim was able to text-message her sister and report she was being driven on the Long Island Expressway.
Previously:
Text messaging and 911
Twitter
Emergency notification service for email and SMS
Floridians can now receive hurricane warnings via SMS
911 centers need to upgrate to accommodate new technology and be accessible to the deaf
At last this is coming to America! Some areas in England has had this for some time. Keep it up LAPD!
This is going to be very handy. I hope this catches on to the rest of the country, if not the world.
This will be especially helpful to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Blackberry/Sidekick users!
Unfortunately, your “Officials in..” link is now broken. They appear to have moved the page into a “pay only” archive. What appears to be a text-only version can be found at: http://www.policeone.com/pc_print.asp?vid=1271778
A related story can be found at: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3281693
I plan on sending these links along to some friends of mine. As a ham (amateur) radio operator emergency communications are an important part of our hobby (I’ve posted using my callsign).
As an aside, I will quickly note that there is no need to be able to hear to get involved in ham radio. Long gone are the days when Morse Code was the only non-”hearing required” communications mode. Digital text/image/data, pseudo-digital image, and analog image modes are quickly gaining in popularity. All of these are seen as potentially vital communications modes during an emergency–the more, and more accessible, the better. My hearing my function just fine, but my experiences with various text-only modes of real-time communication has also been positive–more assertive and effective communications will always be welcome.
(I am not likely to be able to master “speaking with my hands” anytime soon–I just wouldn’t use it enough to retain it, but that is a skill–and art form–much appreciated as well.)
As a 911 dispatcher, it’s amazing that no one thinks to as US how we will add one more element to an already under-staffed, hectic and stressful job. We already deal with people too lazy to call a 7-digit non-emergency line, so they dial 911. And if we hang up on them, they file complaints that we’re rude. Now you want us to handle text messages, photos, and videos from every person who wants to report a barking dog, noisy neighbor, or a rude driver who pissed them off. Stopping one kidnapping does not a great system make. Thanks, but no thanks.
I think Loree posed a good point about this issue. Sending text messages is fast and easy. But LAPD should first address the issue of having inadequate staff. There should be adequate staff in this department to handle each caller’s concerns.
The deaf and hard of hearing have no way to call 911 in an emergency if they are in their car or not near a tty (which is obsolete now). Texting is vital for them in the event of an emergency. It is law that they need to have equal access.
Sorry Loree you don’t get to decide. Being overworked is much better than being unemployed in this day of age.