Live911 has become a 'game changer' for Alliance police, fire

ALLIANCE − Police said they saved a woman's life because a new tool sped up their response to a 911 call.

Capt. James Hilles and Law Director Caitlyn Weyer said the 68-year-old girlfriend of George "Joe" Appleby might not be alive today if not for Live911.

"That Live911 was truly a godsend," Weyer said.

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Live911 is a dispatching software that streams 911 calls into police cruisers, giving officers more information and faster response times. California-based HigherGround is behind the program that has more than 100 clients nationwide.

Currently, Alliance and Strongsville are the only Ohio cities that use the technology, according to a HigherGround spokesman. It's been positive in the Carnation City.

"We have solved a dozen cases that we would not have (without it)," Hilles said. "Like apprehending a domestic violence offender, who normally would have fled. Or hit-skips."

How does it work?

The city pays $8,700 annually for the program for the city's Police and Fire Departments. In an email, Auditor Kevin Knowles said federal stimulus money was used to buy the software and have it installed.

Live911 went online in October 2022 in Alliance. Hilles explained how it works:

He said when a person calls 911 with an emergency, the call streams into the police station and police cruisers. The officers listen as dispatchers gather information from the caller. It gives officers a head start on their response.

Hilles also said the software maps the location of the call onto officers' computer screens in cruisers based on a GPS locator, helping to alert the closest officer.

"It's showing exactly where the caller is at, and if they move, it'll follow them," he added.

Hilles said the system has cut down police response time to emergency calls by two to three minutes.

Before Live911, Hilles explained officers wouldn't know there was an emergency until a dispatcher alerted them, and they might be out of position. Now, officers know it, hear it and already have information from the caller before they arrive on scene.

For the Fire Department, Live911 streams into the fire stations. Fire Chief Jason Hunt said it has been a great addition.

Hilles said police officers get to hear the caller's sense of urgency — something that was missing in the pre-Live911 days.

"You know what you're going into. You don't have to get there and say, 'OK, well, I know what dispatch told me, but now I've got to find out the story,'" Hilles said. With Live911, "the officer has actually had contact and gotten the story. Now they can just go ... and be prepared to act."

He added: "Like they did (Sept. 3)."

The first officer got to South Linden in 1 minute, 18 seconds

On Sept. 3, a neighbor told 911 dispatchers that a man had a knife across the throat of his live-in girlfriend in an South Linden Avenue apartment.

"Please hurry," she told 911 dispatch.

Listening on the other end were Alliance police officers in their cruisers, on the way to the call, and hearing the neighbor's concern. The call also provided the name of the suspect, George Appleby, whom Hilles said was known to Alliance police as a violent man capable of acting on his threats.

The first officer arrived on scene one minute, 18 seconds after the call. Four more then followed.

Police have said Appleby had a knife across the throat of his girlfriend, refused to drop it, and used her as a shield.

An officer — detective Robert Toussant — fired on Appleby as he held the knife to the victim's throat after another officer pried open the door to the apartment.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident. Toussant and the other four officers who were on the scene at the time remain on paid leave.

"No officers were injured. No additional information is available at this time as this is an ongoing investigation," Dominic Brinkley, deputy press secretary for the Ohio Attorney General's Office, said in an email.

Meanwhile, Weyer and Hilles said Live911 helped officers save the woman's life. They said she or a neighbor could have died if they had responded later.

"I mean, by then, who knows," Hilles said. "Two or three minutes goes and maybe one of the neighbors intervenes and they get hurt, too. I mean he could've killed her and fled. But he didn't get time to because the officer was fairly close and the call came in."

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Live911 is helping Alliance police, fire get to emergencies quicker