CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - The Cambridge Police Department has become the second law enforcement agency in Massachusetts to start utilizing a new feature in the Uber app that helps dispatchers obtain critical information in the case of emergency.
“A car is such a tight place where you might not want to call 911 if you’re in fear of your driver or in fear of another passenger, so this is definitely groundbreaking for us,” said Anne Camaro, of Cambridge Emergency Communications.
Thanks to Uber’s new “Safety Toolkit,” emergency dispatchers can find the exact location of riders and even get a description of the driver.
“The dispatcher will get car information like make, model, caller, and plate number,” Camaro said.
All Uber passengers have to do is simply swipe to call 911 within the app, share their location, and live trip details will be passed on to the police.
7’s Kimberly Bookman tested out the technology and learned that the feature updates dispatchers every 30 seconds based on the Uber driver’s moves.
Springfield is the only other city that can access Uber trip details, which was designed by students at MIT and Harvard.
Uber is backing the technology. In a statement, the company said, “Every second counts in an emergency and we want to make sure our users get help quickly with accurate information if faced with an emergency situation.”
Previously, dispatchers had to rely on often outdated location information, which could be off by a great distance and cost precious time during critical situations.
Camaro added, “It’s awesome to have the ability to finally reach out to a community that may not be able to get a hold of us if they’re in trouble.”
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