Innovative Police Tech Saves the Day in Akron

A 26-year-old guy got shot during a home invasion in South Akron, and things were looking pretty bad. The police were clueless about his whereabouts because the 911 calls were incomplete. One of the calls came from a house on Hinman Court, and inside, a woman was whispering into the phone, terrified after a masked man barged in and shot her roommate.

Captain David Laughlin explained, “There was this dude who got shot, and there was a girl hiding in the upstairs bedroom. It was hard to talk to 911 when you’re scared of being discovered.” The officers were struggling to find the woman who needed help, but then they used this new tech thing called Prepared Live. It sent a link to the woman, and she was able to show the officers where she was.

Laughlin mentioned, “This tech has been used before to get info on a hit-and-run, but this time, it was a matter of life and death.” Prepared Live sends a 911 caller a link to access the camera and GPS. Laughlin added, “If there’s a woman in a domestic violence situation who’s scared, she can connect us to her camera without saying a word, and we can see and hear what’s happening.”

This tech is pretty new, and the cops started using it over the summer. It can be useful in a bunch of different situations. Laughlin said, “Our highways can be confusing, and people might not know where they are. Highways can be dangerous, you know?” He also expressed his pride in the safety team for potentially saving the guy’s life. He said, “I’m proud of them, proud of all the safety forces of the city of Akron.”