Cathedral City Police Dispatch
now using RapidSOS System
The Dispatch center at the Cathedral City Police Department has been given access to the web-based system RapidSOS. This system can provide potentially life-saving GPS-based location information to dispatchers after a community member has placed a call to 911.
During a time of crisis or emergency it is not uncommon for residents to be unable to give the emergency dispatcher their exact location. Callers may be unable to communicate or be unfamiliar with the city. Having the ability to give public assistance as quickly and efficiently as possible requires an accurate location.
The current 911 system in California provides the location of callers based on the latitude and longitude of nearby cell towers in the area the person is calling from. Receiving this information can be slow and at times unreliable when dispatchers need exact locations. The RapidSOS system uses enhanced methods to utilize the GPS location directly from the caller’s wireless device rather than relying solely on cell towers. The device-based information increases location accuracy and the speed with which the dispatcher can locate the caller.
When RapidSOS is utilized, information from the Emergency Location Service in both Android and iPhone devices is provided to the dispatcher through the RapidSOS Portal. The caller’s location is shown on a map, along with a possible radius of where the caller might be. As the caller stays connected to 911, the location of the device continuously updates the RapidSOS system. If the caller is moving, the dispatcher can see the direction the device is heading so help can be sent quickly and efficiently.
As a possible example: Cathedral City Police received a call from a juvenile who was being followed on her way to school. The child did not know the name of the street she was on, but as the dispatcher kept her on the line the location of the child’s phone continued to update in RapidSOS. Help was sent to the area without the caller ever being able to tell the dispatcher what street she was on.
Dispatchers are trained to confirm with callers where they are calling from. In instances where the location is unknown, or they are unable to provide this information, RapidSOS is a resource Cathedral City Police now have to better serve its community during emergencies.
