Digital 911 Takes Crime Fighting Cellular
New 911 technology makes it possible to send text message 911.
June 15, 2007 — -- The phrase "In case of an emergency, call 911" could someday soon become as antiquated as the rotary phone.
Several major U.S. cities, including New York and Los Angeles, are exploring a new technology that would allow citizens to send cell phone pictures and video through the cities' 911 system.
The software, developed by the Connecticut-based company PowerPhone, is not in use yet, but many cities see it in their futures.
"The sooner the better," Lt. Bill Schwartz of the Miami Police Department told ABC News. "We're living in an age where information is instantaneous. Why shouldn't law enforcement take advantage of that?"
In January, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to install a system that could receive cell phone photos and video. The Los Angeles Police Department announced a similar plan Tuesday, also saying it was researching technology that would allow people to send text messages to 911.
"We want to be able to accept data and correlate that data with a particular emergency event," LAPD analyst Karen Bottancino told ABC News.
By December, the LAPD hopes to be able to accept solicited cell phone photos, Bottancino said. Under this system, a 911 caller would receive a text message from the operator and would reply to that message with the photo attached.
Greg Sheehan, a spokesman for PowerPhone, told ABC News that with the software, called Incident Link Multimedia, 911 call centers could also receive unsolicited pictures through e-mail addresses that would be advertised by city police departments.
"It makes it very easy for them to get that photo to the 911 center," Sheehan said. "In an emergency where seconds count that's very important."
Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told ABC News that pictures would be very helpful to officers responding to a scene with a fleeing perpetrator because they are a dramatic improvement over witness descriptions.
"Pictures don't lie," Kerik said. "If you have a picture, and you can transpose that picture into a car, and officers can get a real-time, real-life photo, then officers are going to know what they're looking for, and that's the best."
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