BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — For those anyone who's had to call 911, they may know seconds can sometimes feel like forever during an emergency.
Now, the Blue Springs Police Department is hoping to get to those calls sooner with new technology it's testing out.
"It allows us to hear the actual 911 call as it comes into our dispatch," Blue Springs Ofc. Kealoha Prior said.
With the live streaming, officers in Blue Springs can now hear the caller's actual words and voice, providing officers with immediate updates on the situation and location of an emergency.
“It allows me to know what the person's state of mind is," Prior said. "Are they super amped up? Are they calm and mellow? We can gauge our response based off of their speech inflection."
The technology, LIVE911 is the first in the Kansas City area, but used among 30 other police stations across the country.
"I think it’s awesome; I’ve never had a technology like that before," Prior said.
Blue Springs officer response times are about five minutes now, but they know each moment counts.
"It allows us to maybe get there just a little bit sooner," Prior said. "That could be a major thing if someone’s having an overdose and we hear that 911 call come in; we can get there a little bit faster to try to do life-saving measures if we need to."
Zachary Cobb, a dispatcher with the Blue Springs Police Department, says that while it’s about improving response times, it also improves the actual response too, preparing officers for what they’re walking into.
"I think it’s a great thing for them to experience what these calls are like, and it gives added context for them of how dangerous a call may be or a lot of nonverbal cues you can even get on the phone that may help keep them safe," Cobb said. "You hear noises in the background; someone mentioning something about a gun — these are all things that will go into a call. If they can listen to more things and pick it up, then hey, that’s great."
So when seconds can feel like forever, people who live in Blue Springs are on board.
“If they hear somebody is really in distress, it could kind of cause them to get there even faster, and they can get a feel for how serious the situation is," a Blue Springs resident said. "I hope it does bring faster response, because when people call 911, it’s an emergency; get there the fastest."
The department said that if there were ever to be a school safety situation, this technology allows all officers to hear the call directly from the school, directing resources to get there faster.
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