Text to 911 Service Gives Voice To Citizens Unable To Call Police

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Alpharetta, GA -- The Alpharetta Department of Public Safety is reminding residents of a nifty tool they can use to contact police when they are not in a position to talk during an emergency.

On its Facebook page, the agency shared the depiction of an actual case in which a resident sent a text to 911 dispatchers.

The citizen, who was deaf, used the service to inform officers that two children were alone in an automobile, said agency spokesperson George Gordon.

According to the information posted on social media, the resident told authorities that two young children were unsupervised in a car parked outside North Point Mall.

The resident was able to give dispatchers the details of the car, including its color and where it was parked.

“This is an invaluable service for those who are deaf or to those who can text silently if a perceived danger or real danger exists,” Gordon added.

Gordon said police did not make an arrest in the case, but they located the parent and informed them of the circumstances surrounding the children in the car.

While all major cell phone carriers have the technology to support the service, it’s not widely used by law enforcement agencies.

The Milton Police Department indicated on its Facebook page that citizens can also send 911 text messages in cases of emergencies in its jurisdiction.

Roswell police spokesperson Lisa Holland said the agency currently does not have the service available to its residents.

“However, we are in the process of working on the specs for a new 911 phone system that would allow us to implement this functionality for our residents,” she said, adding the timeline for that initiative has yet to be determined.

Furthermore, as with any technology there are some drawbacks. For instance, voice calls to 911 are always more reliable and faster than text messages. Furthermore, the geographic location of a user may not be known when a 911 center receives a citizen’s text.

Finally, photos and videos sent via text cannot be received by 911 center.

Text to 911 messages have the same 160-character limit as other text messages. So, it is important to include specific location information and the nature of the emergency within the first few words of an emergency text. Citizens should also avoid using text abbreviations or slang, as these can cause confusion and delay vital emergency services.

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Photo: depiction of the actual text exchange from a resident to a 911 dispatcher. Credit: Alpharetta Department of Public Safety