PowerEngage, a software platform built for public safety agencies, integrates with dispatch and records management systems to automatically send text messages to citizens who call 911.
Depending on the nature of the call, text messages may be sent while officers are enroute and follow-up surveys can be delivered about 24 hours after the case is closed.
Summit County Sheriff Public Information Officer Skyler Talbot says the program has been operating for about a month.
“When somebody calls in to dispatch, whether it's for an emergency or non-emergency, they'll receive a text message sometime later,” Talbot explained on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Monday. “They’ll essentially get a text that says, ‘This is the Summit County Sheriff's Office. We'd like to ask you a few questions based on your call into dispatch.’ They text back. I believe it's a three or four question survey, and then that all goes into our computer database and gives us a good snapshot of what we are doing right.”
To reduce concerns about scams, Talbot emphasized the texts will not include any clickable links.
“This is just going to be a text conversation,” he said. “There's obviously going to be no personal information. It's going to be, ‘How was the dispatcher? How was the deputy?’ Anything outside of that, don't respond, right? Don't be clicking on links. So, we're not going to ask you any of that.”
Talbot says survey responses will help the department identify trends and evaluate staff performance. While the texts are anonymous, the department can review information on the back end if a comment warrants a follow-up to address a specific problem.
The Heber City Police Department adopted PowerEngage about a year ago. The department has shared some of the feedback it has received online here.
