COPsync, Inc., which operates the nation's largest law enforcement real-time, in-vehicle information sharing, communication and data interoperability network, today announced the release of the COPsync911 emergency alert service. The service enables school personnel to instantaneously and silently send emergency alerts directly to local law enforcement officers in their patrol units and local agencies with the mere push of a button. The COPsync911 service is expected to reduce school emergency response times by 5 to 7 minutes, since the communication directly to the patrol car is instantaneous. The alert is also sent to the cell phones of teachers and administrators at the school, alerting of imminent danger.
“COPsync911 arms educators with technology, not guns,” said Ronald A. Woessner, COPsync chief executive officer. “The service uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to instantaneously locate and silently send a distress alert from the school to the nearest patrol vehicles and agencies on the COPsync Network.”
Once the alert is sent, a ‘chat room’ is established among the school, the responding patrol vehicles and the local law enforcement dispatch office. This enables the school to silently communicate with responding officers and the dispatch office about the nature of the threat, whether it is an active shooter, fire, suspicious person or other emergency. The chat room includes a link to a diagram of the school.
“The COPsync system was originally developed with the objective of enhancing officer safety and increasing situational awareness among officers,” said Shane Rapp, the company’s president and cofounder. “COPsync911 is a natural extension of the company’s core technology and objectives. It will significantly reduce officer response times in school crisis situations, when seconds count most, and will provide responding law enforcement officers with detailed information about the nature and location of the threat. Our objective is to protect as many campuses, government buildings and businesses in as short a time as possible.”
In the company’s current customer base, located in 63% of Texas counties, there are more than an estimated 1,000 school campuses that could benefit from COPsync911. The company also plans to offer the COPsync911 emergency alert service throughout the United States.
Features of the COPsync911 Service
- Teachers can send emergency alerts directly to the closest law enforcement officers -- directly to them in their patrol cars -- and the law enforcement dispatch center.
- Text alerts are simultaneously sent to the school’s teachers and administrators.
- Text alerts are simultaneously sent to other officers that subscribe to the COPsync911 alert service.
- Once sent, a chat room conversation is established among the person sending the alert, the local dispatch center and the responding patrol units.
- This chat room conversation enables all parties to communicate directly in real-time as the officers are en-route to the scene.
- Other alerts received from the school will be automatically added to the initial chat room conversation.
- The responding officers will be able to click a link to view a diagram of the school and a map of the school’s location.
