New Technology Will Livestream 911 Calls To Chatham Borough Police

CHATHAM, NJ — The Chatham Borough Police Department can now listen in on 911 calls in real-time, making them the first in Morris County to use potentially game-changing emergency response software.

The new software, called Live 911, allows police to listen in on 911 calls as they happen as well as see where the calls are coming from on a Google Earth-like map.

"Our officers have been able to arrive at the scene as the call is going out," Brian Gibbons, Chatham Borough Police Chief, said. "This firsthand information will certainly help officers de-escalate critical calls for service more effectively, helping to make the response safer for officers and residents alike."

Normally, there is some time between a 911 call and an officer being dispatched to an emergency. Dispatchers must collect and relay information such as the location and type of emergency.

However, Live 911 avoids this delay by allowing Chatham Borough to on-duty officers to listen directly to the critical information.

"This technology enables officers in the field to immediately respond to the location, improving overall response time, without waiting to receive the information via the police radio, only after the call is transferred from the call taker to the dispatcher," Gibbons said.

The software not only reduces response time but also provides police with valuable information about an emergency. It can provide officers with the exact location of a caller, which is especially useful if the caller is unsure of the closest address, and it can help police better understand an incident before they arrive.

"It allows officers to develop better situational awareness by getting a “feel” for the nature of the incident based on the description of the caller, and other background noise transmitted over the phone," Gibbons said. "This firsthand information will certainly help officers deescalate critical calls for service more effectively, helping to make the response safer for officers and residents alike."

The Live 911 software is currently in use across the United States, but Chatham Borough is the first in Morris County to use it.

" We have always embraced technology to help us perform our dangerous job more effectively, efficiently, and safely," Gibbons said.