In a press confence, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced Mecklenburg County finally has the ability to text 911.
"Call if you can; Text if you can't." That's the message from CMPD.
CMPD stated, "Texting 911 should be used if you are deaf, hard of hearing or when speaking on the phone will endanger your life in circumstances such as kidnapping, hostage situations, domestic violence home invasion or an active shooter."
WCNC highlighted the county's inability to text 911 last year.
Texting "911" was first brought to the attention of anchor Sarah French in 2009 when she was living in Connecticut and her friend and colleague was killed hiding in a closet, texting friends to call "911" for her because she didn't want to be heard. When moments felt like hours, she resorted to calling 911 and that's when she was shot and killed.
At the time, there was only one county in the country where you could send a text message directly to 911.
Now 911 texting is available in almost every state except Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Alaska. But it's in only a fraction of the cities across the 146 counties in the Carolinas. One of them being Cornelius and now Charlotte.
CMPD said if you have to text 911 include your exact location, the street address, city or town, and the nature of your emergency. When it comes to life and death, this new option can only help, hopefully saving more lives.
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