The Fayetteville Police Department introduced live video calls for emergencies called "Rapid Deploy."The department said the live video calls will help first responders get a first look at the scene so they can make quicker decisions.It's part of the department's system upgrade that came at no additional cost. The feature is optional for callers and, according to officials, will better assist first responders."A lot of times callers are unable to articulate what they're wanting to tell us," said Kristi Key, dispatch supervisor for the Fayetteville Police Department. "Or they may not know exactly where they're at or not be familiar with the area. So, it helps the dispatchers to be able to process that. It helps them to be able to see. Let's say there's a hazmat spill and they're trying to decide, 'OK, what is the response going to be?'"Dispatchers can send a request for live video by texting a link to the caller's phone. Once the link is opened and the request is accepted, permissions to use the microphone, camera and location sharing on the phone must be turned on.Some in the community said it's a good idea but have raised privacy concerns."That would be a really cool tool to use for the public," said Jesse Fletcher, who lives in Fayetteville. "I studied cybersecurity in university. It just worries me that giving the police access to your phone, what else could they possibly see while they're looking through your camera? Or when they cut the transmission? Do they still have some way to look into your phone or something like that?"Police said the system uses one-way video, meaning the dispatcher will be able to see you, but you won't see them. They also said access to your phone is limited to the live video."We only have access to that video while they have that browser open, while they can see what they're showing us," Key said. "If they get out of that browser, even if they go out and let's say they're going to look up a contact for us by going to have us call their mom, if they get out of it to go looking at that contact, it turns black for us. I think that it's going to be very beneficial for our citizens. I think it's going to be beneficial for first responders, for us to be able to see, you know, what we can do to enhance our response."Officials hope the feature will better serve the fast-growing community and save more lives.
The Fayetteville Police Department introduced live video calls for emergencies called "Rapid Deploy."
The department said the live video calls will help first responders get a first look at the scene so they can make quicker decisions.
It's part of the department's system upgrade that came at no additional cost. The feature is optional for callers and, according to officials, will better assist first responders.
"A lot of times callers are unable to articulate what they're wanting to tell us," said Kristi Key, dispatch supervisor for the Fayetteville Police Department. "Or they may not know exactly where they're at or not be familiar with the area. So, it helps the dispatchers to be able to process that. It helps them to be able to see. Let's say there's a hazmat spill and they're trying to decide, 'OK, what is the response going to be?'"
Dispatchers can send a request for live video by texting a link to the caller's phone. Once the link is opened and the request is accepted, permissions to use the microphone, camera and location sharing on the phone must be turned on.
Some in the community said it's a good idea but have raised privacy concerns.
"That would be a really cool tool to use for the public," said Jesse Fletcher, who lives in Fayetteville. "I studied cybersecurity in university. It just worries me that giving the police access to your phone, what else could they possibly see while they're looking through your camera? Or when they cut the transmission? Do they still have some way to look into your phone or something like that?"
Police said the system uses one-way video, meaning the dispatcher will be able to see you, but you won't see them. They also said access to your phone is limited to the live video.
"We only have access to that video while they have that browser open, while they can see what they're showing us," Key said. "If they get out of that browser, even if they go out and let's say they're going to look up a contact for us by going to have us call their mom, if they get out of it to go looking at that contact, it turns black for us. I think that it's going to be very beneficial for our citizens. I think it's going to be beneficial for first responders, for us to be able to see, you know, what we can do to enhance our response."
Officials hope the feature will better serve the fast-growing community and save more lives.