Montgomery County Sheriff Unveils New Policing Technology
Volume 10
Montgomery County Sheriff Unveils New Policing Technology
By Yann Ranaivo , The Roanoke Times Montgomery County Sheriff Hank Partin said his department will be a test case in law enforcement as it uses Automatic Injury Detection ( AID ) technology . An AID panel provides instant notification of health information and location to dispatchers when a deputy has been shot or injured . ( Image Credit : Matt Gentry , The Roanoke Times )
Feb 2017 Edition
The Montgomery County , Va ., Sheriff ’ s Office demonstrated a new technology that could save the lives of deputies . The demonstration and media event took place at the Montgomery County Public Safety Building on February 1 , 2017 .
Automatic Injury Detection ( AID ) panels provide a way to contact dispatch and others during a time when communication may not be possible . Thanks to $ 86,000 approved by the county ’ s Board of Supervisors , the sheriff ’ s office obtained a system that relies on custom-fitted plastic panels slipped inside bulletproof vests to notify department command and dispatchers of the exact location of a deputy that has been shot .
With several holding up their smartphones to capture the video , a crowd on Wednesday morning watched as a live Periscope stream broadcast a dummy being gunned down in a field .
Phones across the room buzzed with a text message announcing that “ Deputy Smith , Blood O has been injured : abdomen .”
Another text just below the first notification provided a link to Google Maps , pinpointing the exact location of the incident .
The mock exercise was a demonstration of new policing technology the Montgomery County Sheriff ’ s Office hopes to start using by the end of this month .
( See Automatic Injury Detection ( AID ) Live Fire demonstration with connectivity to a radio and a smartphone .)
The new tool is intended to speed up response time to not only the incident itself , but also for saving the deputy ’ s life , Sheriff Hank Partin has said .
“ Montgomery County , we can ’ t wait ,” he said , championing the need of the technology . “ We ’ re tipping 100,000 in population . We can ’ t wait .” ( Learn about Automatic Injury Detection ) This is a promotion of the AID ( Automatic Injury Detection ) by
the Montgomery County Sheriff ’ s Office .
Called the Automatic Injury Detection system , or AID , the tool relies on Bluetooth technology to connect the panels to smartphones and police radios , which together push notifications to dispatchers and select department personnel .
Along with location and the deputy ’ s name , the smartphone notification provides information such as allergies to specific medicines .
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