Frederick police implements texting system to communicate with residents

Mary Grace Keller, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·1 min read

Mar. 26—The Frederick Police Department is adding a new layer of technology to communicate with residents.

Starting Monday, residents who call FPD through 9-1-1 or the agency's non-emergency number, 301-600-2102, from a cellphone will also receive a text message, FPD said in a news release.

"This software allows our department to increase our communication with the public while also reducing the need for follow-up calls to our communications center," Lt. Aaron Lapp, commander of the Technology and Services Division, said in the release.

An initial message from FPD will acknowledge the resident's call, the time it was made and provides an incident number. The system is not for texting back and forth, FPD spokesman Allen Etzler said, but is a way to receive status updates from the police department. He compared it to when a customer gets automated texts from a restaurant as to the status of their order.

If an officer's response takes longer than 20 minutes, the caller will receive a "courtesy delayed response text," the FPD release said. Messages are sent in English and Spanish. Messages will not be sent for sensitive safety matters, according to FPD.

"The Frederick Police Department is very excited to launch the SPIDR Tech software," Lapp said in the release. "FPD continually looks to stay current with public safety technology products that can help our officers perform their job duties at a high level and better connect our agency and community."

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