DETROIT (WXYZ) — There’s a new 911 service that’s available to Detroiters and it’s called Texty.
All a person has to do is pick up a cellphone, text 911 and a team member from the dispatch center will respond.
“Once they text 911, the call-taker on the other end is going to receive that text,” Detroit Police Department Cmdr. Sonia Russell said. “Once they receive that text, they are going to hit the 911 icon. Once they hit the 911 icon, it’s going to come up Detroit police 911. They are going to text back 'How can we help you?' That’s going to populate and once that populates, it instantly tells us the location of where the texter is.”
DPD says they rolled out the Texty service this week.
Russell says the tool will not only help 911 operators dispatch officers to an emergency scene, but it will also help all members of the community, especially those who may not be able to call 911 for help.
“I think this will be great for our hearing impaired and deaf population as well as our domestic violence victims, anybody that’s being kidnapped and of course, missing children,” Russell said.
Detrioter Terry Riddick says he's got some concerns about the new technology.
“I don’t believe it’s going to help because once we call DPD or the police or EMS, you're going to want somebody to listen to you, to actually hear a voice to say that they're on their way, so you can (get) some help,” Riddick said. “But that texting it takes... first of all, you're going to get nervous. You might misspell something and then they're asking you questions and you're going back and forth. And you need immediate help.”
However lifelong Detroiter Rod Reid says he believes this is a means to a new beginning.
“Another option will always help,” Reid said. “Because there’s another option, so there’s more than one way to go. If you can only call and the lines are jammed and no one’s answering but you can also text, then maybe the text time will help.”
Currently, DPD averages about 1.2 million calls for service a year, including those who call for help in Hamtramck and Highland Park. The national wait time is two minutes. Russell says DPD is averaging 1 minute and 35 seconds for wait times.
Dayna Clark, a spokesperson for DPD, says the team is very happy about the new system and the best part about it is that the service will bare no cost to taxpayers.
“It’s free of charge,” she said. “So as long as you have a cellphone and a data plan, which you are responsible for, you can use Texty.”
DPD says with the program just rolling out on Tuesday, they want to try it out a little bit and then come back in a couple of weeks before giving community members updates on the new service.
