The Wrightsville Beach Police Department is launching a public safety mobile app that will allow them to instantly disperse information to tens of thousands of residents and visitors.
The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen voted Nov. 12 to allow the police department to reallocate part of its budget to fund the app, which costs $5,000 up front and $500 a year to maintain. Police Chief Dan House said the department could use leftover funds from a recent Taser purchase to pay for the project.
The app will allow users to “text a tip” or quickly access 911 communications for emergencies or non-emergencies, but House said he’s most excited for its ability to reach so many people instantly.
The app will be integrated into a system of local apps currently used by a more than 800,000 people, and the WBPD app will have the ability to alert all those users. But the department can also limit notifications to a certain geographical area, or geofence, so only app users on the island will receive the alerts.
House thinks that ability will be especially helpful during the summer when children go missing on the beach strand, which he said happens often. Without the app, the children are usually found within 15 minutes, House said, but even that can cause panic for the parents.
“If we knew the area the child was last seen, we could geofence that area and push out a notification that would hit more than just residents,” he said.
House said similar public safety apps would soon be launched by other New Hanover County law enforcement agencies as well as agencies throughout North Carolina.
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