6PM: Got an emergency? You can now text 911 in 3 counties, Bountiful

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WEST VALLEY CITY — It's a rare but frightening scenario: being alone in a house when someone breaks in, and then hiding under a bed or in a closet hoping the intruder will go away.

In cases like that, the person who is home alone is often too afraid to call 911 out of fear that the intruder will hear them.

But now, they have the option of texting.

On Tuesday, administrators at the Valley Emergency Communications Center announced that residents in Salt Lake, Weber and Morgan counties — as well as in Bountiful — can now text 911 dispatchers in addition to calling them. The new system will also allow texters to send pictures to dispatchers.

VECC Executive Director John Inch Morgan said the service is expected to benefit the deaf community as well as those who would put themselves in danger by speaking, such as possibly in an intruder situation or an incident of domestic violence.

"We've had many people who have been hiding in a closet or hiding under a bed and rather than try to make a noise on the phone to answer our questions, now they can text," added VECC police operations manager Gigi Smith.

Both Morgan and Smith admit there hasn't been an overwhelming demand as of yet for texting 911, but they believe it will grow.

"We are trying to keep up with the needs of our citizens," she said.

Still, Smith emphasized Tuesday that calling 911 and directly talking to an emergency dispatcher is still the most preferred method for getting help. For one, calling is quicker. In an emergency situation, every second counts, Morgan added.

And calling allows trained dispatchers the opportunity to listen for other red flags.

"A lot of times, if you have someone telling us one thing but their verbal cues are different, then the call-taker would pick up on that," Smith said. "If we have a hysterical caller and they're telling me while crying between sobs that everything is fine, that may tell us everything isn't really fine."

Calling 911 also gives dispatchers the opportunity to listen for background noises, such as screaming or even gunshots, that would be important for first responders to know.

Smith says people who text 911, particularly juveniles, should refrain from using texting shorthand, jargon or acronyms that not all people would recognize. She also discourages texters from sending emojis to 911.

VECC has been working for approximately 18 months setting up and testing the new system.

Smith also cautioned residents on Tuesday that prank texting 911 carries the same penalties as abusing 911 by calling.

Although the system is designed for the next generation, even being billed as NG911, or Next Generation 911, both Morgan and Smith emphasized their slogan is still, "Call if you can, text if you can't."

"Again, it's not our preferred way to do it, so I'm glad it's a smaller percentage of the calls coming in. But I think with the newer generations who almost prefer that, I think that it is something that is catching on," Morgan said.

Contributing: Jed Boal

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