New tech, to serve and protect.
Michael Lusk, a Richmond PD dispatcher described a situation in which a normal phone call to 911 would require misdirection, “We’ve all gotten calls where someone says something like, ‘I can’t talk right now, Aunt Betty,’ and we know something’s not right.” But if someone cannot describe the situation aloud over the phone, texting provides utility to the police.
Sending a text to 911 gets a response stressing location information first. With speed and clarity being important in safety situations, dispatchers have prewritten responses to more common situations, such as “do not move the patient unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Dispatchers also believe the system benefits people with hearing or speech impairments who previously have had to utilize a third-party service to get a hold of emergency response services.
Richmond began testing the service in November, but had to wait for the big four mobile carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile) to adopt the technology. Texting in with a different service provider will result in an error message.
The FCC reports that less than 500 of the nation’s 6,000 call centers currently employ texting technology. Richmond is the first Police Department in Northern California to adopt it.
Note: San Bernardino County and Riverside County public safety agencies have also employed this technology.
More on texting 911 can be found here.