FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly revealed “Prepared Live,” a software that 911 dispatchers use to access callers’ cell phone cameras, has been utilized by Flagler County dispatchers 149 times since the Sheriff’s Office purchased it in February 2023.
Dispatchers have located missing children by obtaining a picture of the child almost instantaneously and immediately disseminating it to responding deputies and arrested thieves without incident by directing responding deputies to the hidden suspect – all faster than ever, Staly said.
News 6 first reported on the Prepared Live 911 dispatcher software in January after Titusville Police began using it.
When a caller dials 911 and a dispatcher takes the call, the dispatcher can send the caller a link via text message. The caller must accept the link, otherwise nothing happens. If the caller does accept the link, he or she can show the dispatcher everything he or she is seeing just by pointing the cell phone’s camera in the direction of the activity.
A woman called 911 after seeing someone outside her Palm Coast apartment window wearing a red hoodie, ducking down and using something to pry open car doors.
She called 911 and gave the dispatcher permission to access her cell phone camera.
“Can you see now through my window?” the caller asked.
“I can see it,” the dispatcher responded.
The dispatcher then relayed exactly what she was seeing, live and in real time, to responding deputies.
“We have a live video feed with the subject, a male wearing a red shirt in between what looks like a Kia Soul,” the dispatcher advised deputies.
The caller’s live video feed showed the suspect running from the row of cars and into a stairwell and hiding under the stairs.
The dispatcher guided deputies into the stairwell where they carefully approached the suspect and arrested him.
Deputies said the suspected burglar – a 12-year-old – was carrying a screwdriver, mask and latex gloves.
“Here’s what would have happened [if we did not have Prepared Live],” Staly said. “We’re tying up more deputies, setting up a perimeter, we got a canine unit coming, probably a drone unit, we didn’t need any of that. So it’s saved the taxpayer a lot of money and makes us more efficient and more bad guys get arrested.”
Flagler County 911 Communications Director Christina Mortimer said Prepared Live has been a “game changer.”
“Being able to provide the responding units with accurate information instead of what we’re being told,” Mortimer said.
Staly said the cell phone camera-accessing software is like having a live camera at every scene county-wide.
“So our community is 100,000 residents, probably at least 100,000 of them have phones, so that’s another 100,000 potential eyes in our community,” Staly said.
Prepared Live also has the ability to retrieve GPS coordinates from cell phone and send them to dispatchers which has quickly guided responding deputies to people lost in the woods.
For medical calls, dispatchers can see who is assisting the victim and how, in particular if the dispatcher’s life-saving medical instructions are being followed.