Livingston Co. First in MI to Test Eagle Eye 911 Camera Software
August 26, 2024
![Livingston Co. First in MI to Test Eagle Eye 911 Camera Software](/dbphotos/displaywidth/4e9ac365711310f374f8fde400512400/600/a.jpg)
Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com
Livingston County 911 last week, demonstrated a new software that allows dispatchers to patch into a camera near where a call is coming from, to give real-time information to first responders.
It's called Eagle Eye 911 Public Safety Camera Sharing. Officials insist Big Brother is not watching you.
"It's very important that people understand that those cameras are not viewed until somebody calls 911 from that location. The 911 dispatcher can stay on the line until he or she closes out that call. Once that call is closed out, there's no recordings. There's no more going back into the camera systems," says Joe Bommarito, of Elite Fire Safety, a division of Sciens Building Solutions, a security integrator based in Novi.
"One good thing is it will time stamp to show when the dispatcher was viewing that camera. In the future, if law enforcement has to use it for law enforcement purposes, they'll just have a time stamp stating this image was seen by 911 dispatchers at a certain time. That way they can use it in their investigation."
Bommarito says Eagle Eye only works with commercial grade security cameras, not Ring or other consumer products. And he says it comes at no extra cost to taxpayers.
"The 911 centers are already using RapidSOS, a software that pinpoints the coordinates of a cell phone," he says. "So Eagle Eye and Rapid SOS partnered up to make so when somebody uses a cell phone, they could pick up a camera within 100 yards from that cell phone call being placed."
Livingston County is the first county in Michigan to demo the new technology at the Livingston Educational Service Agency in Howell, which provides educational services and support to 26,000 students throughout the county.
"I am impressed with the Camera Sharing technology and can see the potential for improving response times by first responders to critical events in our community," said Michael Hubert, Superintendent of Livingston Educational Service Agency.