NYC To Accept Digital Photos In 911 Calls

[N1Medic 69]

I don't see the purpose of this?

NYC to accept digital photos in 911 calls

By Nahal Toosi

Associated Press

New York City plans to upgrade its 911 emergency services to accept digital cell-phone videos and photos such as this one. 

NEW YORK – The scenario is all too common on the crowded streets of New York: A car crashes into another, confusion ensues and a slew of people at the site call 911 to offer the same or similar information.

Now the city wants to broaden the 911 system to accept digital photos and video clips of accidents and crimes. But the expansion of the massive 911 system, which already handles roughly 11 million calls a year, raises questions about what to do with all that data.

“It sounds like a good idea because it’s technically doable and because it makes sense and other areas are doing it,” said Alan Reiter, a wireless data consultant. “The downside is getting swamped with photos.”

City officials say they’re not worried about their ability to process all the digital images – or the possibility that hoaxes might trip up dispatchers.

“We’re managing information all the time,” said John Feinblatt, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s criminal justice coordinator. “If somebody calls up and gives us words, we’re assessing those words. Something that we do every day is judge the authenticity of the report and the veracity of the report.”

The New York initiative, announced in January, will involve equipping 911 centers with the necessary technology to accept the photos and videos, which often may come from people’s cell phones. The city also intends to upgrade its non-emergency services through the 311 information hot line, which gets about 14.6 million calls a year.

New York officials do not yet have a timetable or cost estimates for implementing the technology, though Feinblatt said there “definitely will be a million at the end” of the price tag of the multiyear effort.

In adding image capability, New York City will be at the forefront of governments upgrading emergency-response systems to take advantage of the wireless age, joining states such as Indiana, Tennessee and Vermont in working to enhance their systems.

Indiana, for instance, is in the early stages of planning and is still examining how incoming pictures would be managed. Officials want to first make sure the networks can handle the files.

“Your message will not go through until the bandwidth is there,” said Ken Lowden, executive director of the Indiana Wireless Enhanced 911 Board. “If the bandwidth is really tight your picture’s gonna sit there.”

Paul Cosgrave, New York City’s information technology commissioner, said city systems are unlikely to need a major upgrade to handle the incoming digital data.

In theory, a witness to an emergency could directly send a picture or video to a dispatcher in what some call an “open” system.

But the leading technology at the moment is less direct: A person must call a dispatcher first and receive instructions for transmitting an image.

PowerPhone, a 911 technology and training provider, says its technology gives dispatchers control over which images are accepted. The Connecticut-based company is talking to New York City and smaller municipalities seeking the capacity, said Greg Sheehan, a PowerPhone spokesman.

Feinblatt, who said the city is in talks with vendors he wouldn’t name, said dispatchers would need to be trained on making the right calls on photos and video.

He said he would rather have witnesses contact dispatchers directly before sending in images because the voice communication will enable a faster response.

He said the digital images could come later to enhance crime-fighting and other responses.

But Adina Schwartz, professor of law at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said police should be wary about relying too heavily on the public for catching crimes on digital devices. If a person takes video of a crime in progress, that video may not be admissible in court unless the person is willing to testify and “authenticate” the material, she said.

[Remember585 815]

I hope this comes to Westchester. I want to handle the first call with it.

"No sir, you are right. It isn't the right color for a Bowel Movement. EMS is on the way..."

Seriously though, in some cases, for example, if a truck crashes and the person is, um, stupid, they can take a picture of the placard and the 911 center can look up the # and see what it's hauling.

Just a thought.

Edited February 4, 2007 by Remember585

[Guest]

I think that this system is geared more towards people catching crimes on their cell phone cameras. I personally think its a great idea although i dont know how many people actually catch crimes on their cell phones.

[JetPhoto 626]

I think that this system is geared more towards people catching crimes on their cell phone cameras. I personally think its a great idea although i dont know how many people actually catch crimes on their cell phones.

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I think it would be of great help if people used it properly (yea right were not in a perfect world) But imagine your a call taker and someone calls in an accident, they say they have a camera phone and send you a picture of the accident. This can further assist the dispatchers in assigning the priority of the dispatch.

It is definitely a step toward the future.

[Scottyk107 9]

I think it would be of great help if people used it properly (yea right were not in a perfect world) But imagine your a call taker and someone calls in an accident, they say they have a camera phone and send you a picture of the accident. This can further assist the dispatchers in assigning the priority of the dispatch.

It is definitely a step toward the future.

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and then they rear end the car infront of them because they were trying to hold their camera phone steady I think its going to cause more problems then solve

[27east 19]

This is a stupid idea. Every idiot out there with a camera phone is going to send @!#$ in and waste everyone's time.

[Guest partyrock]

First, people don't know what could be helpful to us when sending these photos or videos. They don't know what a placard is. You can't tell any more from a snapshot from 20 ft away of an mva than you can from a verbal description. If you want to try and narrow down a location its not going to help unless the people on scene can see the photo. How abou tthe city gets some mapping software into its mobil data terminals and GPS enabled 911. Then we can get a nice red dot on a map that we can drive to. I'm tired of finding the cell tower the persons call is comming from just so I can get closer because they don't know what road they are on and what exit they are near.

Photo and video enabled 911 would help how many calls a year?? I figure about half my EMS runs are out of my PAR and a third of my fire runs are outside my area. That seems like a better investment.

Edited February 5, 2007 by partyrock

[Fex404 0]

This is  a stupid idea. Every idiot out there with a camera phone is going to send @!#$ in and waste everyone's time.

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People are not gunna send things in falsely or screw around. Im sure you know it is against the law to falsely alert the emergency system. I dont know if you were saying this or that at an accident or crim scene everyone will try to be the hero and take all sorts of pictures. In the end im sure it well help whichever organization is responding or investigating the incident. If the pictures are not helpful then they are not, but if they are helpful then that makes that call a lot easier.

[Guest partyrock]

People are not gunna send things in falsely or screw around. Im sure you know it is against the law to falsely alert the emergency system.

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Thats funny. Come down to NYC sometime. These people are down right creative in the BS runs they send us on. Lets see we've got the pull boxes, "someone's been shot", "They're beating up a cop!!", people call to screw with their ex's, people call when someone isn't home because they know EMS has to call us to force the door, kids call because they like seeing us race by, the list of bullsh!t goes on and on.

[JBE 328]

partyrock, you took the words right out of my mouth. Although I think it's an interesting idea, this would probably interfere with the hands free law here.

Would it give dispatchers an edge?? Possibly. I've learned in my experience to ask the right questions and listen for certain things that will be the indicator differentiating a minor from major incident. Just get me a CAD system that can properly use this new idea and we'll see where it goes.

[Fex404 0]

Thats funny.  Come down to NYC sometime.  These people are down right creative in the BS runs they send us on.  Lets see we've got the pull boxes, "someone's been shot", "They're beating up a cop!!", people call to screw with their ex's, people call when someone isn't home because they know EMS has to call us to force the door, kids call because they like seeing us race by, the list of bullsh!t goes on and on.

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I really didnt think of it that way. I was thinking more of people sending pictures on the cell phone because i would think that that is 100 % traceable. You know what I mean/? I know the pullboxes and bs that goes on. I was just thinking about the topic that we are talking about.

[JBE 328]

Oh believe me, we get false alarms via cell phones quite often. It's mostly when they can't pinpoint the location and they go to the nearest cell phone tower. 911 only Cell Phones are no picnic either.