Plymouth Police Use App to Help People with Mental Illness

When police officers respond to an emergency situation, they often don’t know what they are walking in to. Now, the Plymouth Police Department has a new tool to be more prepared for emergency responses.
“We want to have the best information possible,” says Capt. Michael Reed with the Plymouth Police Department. “Those details are critical, so we can have the best outcome possible.”
Vitals App Provides Critical Information
The Plymouth Police Department recently adopted the Vitals App. The new smartphone app gives police officers real-time critical information about vulnerable individuals. The information provided includes diagnoses, personalized de-escalation techniques and behavior triggers.
“We deal with a variety of it people with disabilities,” said Reed. “We come into contact at least two to three times weekly, whether it be with somebody with some sort of disability or a vulnerable adult. Sometimes it’s somebody from a group home that’s living in our community. Again this provides another tool we can utilize. This technology will help us resolve the situation quickly, effectively.”
How It Works
The person with a disability or their caregiver can sign up for the service online. When signing up, customers purchase a Vitals “beacon,” which people with disabilities carry with them when out in public. The beacon allows police to pick up information about the person in need during an emergency. Officers will receive an alert on their phone with the necessary information to provide a quicker response.
Captain Reed says the Vitals app will help improve safety not only for officer but for the individuals with disabilities as well.
“This app is going to provide us the information and the triggers of what to do what not to do,” says Captain Reed. “It will also give us somebody exterior whether that be a parents or a caregiver that we can call. This app is going to provide us that next set of critical tools that we would not have necessarily had before.”
Meredith Hackler, reporting
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