Sunny Isles Beach Unveils Innovative Tech for Swift Emergency Response

Published on December 04, 2023

By Jerry Joseph, Commissioner

During my tenure as Vice Mayor, I challenged Chief Edward Santiago to upgrade our capability to locate residents who may need police services when calling the non-emergency Police Communications Center. His team researched options and found the perfect solution.

At the September City Commission meeting, the Police Department asked to use forfeiture funds to purchase enhanced dispatch software. They received overwhelming support from our elected officials with a 5-0 vote.

The software will enable the police dispatch center to text a link to callers, providing their live location via a smartphone. The live location will also include an approximate height, which can be useful in high-rise condo buildings. It will allow callers to share pictures, videos, and chat with communications officers. If a caller is witnessing an event happening in real-time, they can stream the event live using their smartphone to our communications center. It will also provide a real-time location through the device’s GPS functionality. If they cannot speak, they can initiate a chat or text pictures directly to our communications officers. The software can also translate multiple languages into text from inbound calls to the dispatch center.

This software will work well with our new Hiperwall, a large screen capable of displaying an array of images, typically CCTV streams from our parks. Communications officers can control these images on large monitors from their workstations. This software will assist our police officers in responding more effectively to calls for service by providing potentially critical information. Thanks to Chief Santiago and his team for the swift solution and implementation.

Contact Commissioner Jerry Joseph at seat1@sibfl.net or 305.792.1754.

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