The Seaside Police Department unveiled new technology for police officers and patrol cars, making them the first in the state to integrate the systems into their day-to-day work.
The department is partnering with the National Public Safety Alliance for Individuals with Disabilities, also known as AID, to provide record-keeping of people with disabilities for emergency situations. Through the AID program, people with disabilities or their family members can register in a database that first responders will be able to access including emergency contact information, a physical description, a photograph and the person’s disability.
“This is groundbreaking, and we are the first in the state of California to adopt this program and we’re very proud of that,” Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges said in a news conference last week. “This will allow us to have a better interaction and a better response.”
The program came to the department’s attention after a resident went to the police department a few months ago and asked about registering a family member.
“Our records team did the homework and research, and we had a demo set up within a couple of weeks,” Borges said. “We were just mind-blown that something like this existed. This is going to help us have better interactions with our community members with disabilities.”
The department will also be implementing Pursuit Alert into patrol vehicles, an alert system that will notify drivers of nearby high-speed pursuits and emergency responses. The alerts come through the company’s Digital Siren app and can also integrate with third-party apps like Waze and Apple Maps.
The project was spearheaded by Seaside police Cmdr. Matthew Doza, who said the goal was to provide a safer environment for both police and drivers. Police pursuits account for thousands of deaths each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“When we first heard about the program, we thought it was something every police department should have,” Doza said. “It was easy to integrate it into our computer system, and we want to encourage others to start using it.”
With the new system in place, drivers can be alerted within a one-mile radius of a patrol car that’s in pursuit of a suspect. With the heads-up, drivers can make a decision on whether to take the next exit or pull over with less anxiety or panic.
“Our technology aims to provide a 30- to 45-second warning to innocent drivers who may be unknowingly entering a dangerous area,” said Joe Cameron, chief operating officer for Pursuit Alert. “It’s not just for pursuits either; drivers can be alerted to emergency road closures or an active-shooter incident.”
The department has already installed the software in a couple of patrol vehicles and plan to have all of the vehicles ready in a month.
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Seaside Police Implement Emergency Database for Disabled, New Alert System
“We were just mind-blown that something like this existed,” said Police Chief Nick Borges. “This is going to help us have better interactions with our community members with disabilities.”
