“I think 911 texting is a good idea,” said McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage. “It could be beneficial in domestic violence situations when the victim is afraid to make a call. It also would benefit those who are hearing impaired and do not have access to a TTY phone.”
TTY is a special device that lets people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, there are about 650 dispatch centers — roughly 10 percent — nationwide that can accept text messages. None are in Central Illinois.
But many 911 centers are starting to consider upgrading to a new Next Generation 911 system to enable the public to transmit text, images, video and data to a 911 center.
Tony Cannon, the director of the McLean County Combined Communications Center (MetCom), agreed the ability to text to 911 will be an important resource for the area.
“It’s not a priority right now because of the funding issues,” he said. “We really don’t have any money to put into such a system right now. But the good news is that several other places are and by the time we are ready to roll with it, several of the kinks should be worked out.”
Illinois State University Police Chief Aaron Woodruff noted that younger generations often are more comfortable sending messages via text, rather than traditional voice calling.
“Like most college campuses, we already used text-based messages for emergency notifications to our community,” he said. “We have found text messages are more robust, and likely to get through during periods of high call volumes, particularly during a major emergency.”
Lincoln Police Chief Paul Adams also likes the idea.
“I have seen some of the interfaces provided to dispatchers for this type of technology,” he said. “It seems very intuitive and user-friendly for the dispatchers. I believe there are situations that people are placed in that they can't talk or the cellular circuits are busy and the only way they can communicate is through the text service.”
Texting to 911 is different from making a voice call. When you make a voice call to 911, the dispatcher will typically receive your phone number and your approximate location automatically through a system called “Enhanced 911.” However, in most cases as the technology stands now, the dispatcher will not receive this automated information through a text.
Most law enforcement officials say if you can, always call.
"There is no substitute for a live call with a trained dispatcher to ask specific questions and get the most up-to-date information to deliver police and other emergency services," said Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner.
“Everyone is preparing for it,” said CenCom manager Tony Harris, whose agency oversees county-wide emergency communications in DeWitt County that is "looking toward the Next Generation 911 and the motto is ‘Any device. Any time. Anywhere.’ But the first step in that is going to be receiving texts. It’s something we are all going to need. But, of course, funding is going to be the biggest issue.”
Follow Kevin Barlow on Twitter: @pg_barlow.
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