Bluetooth aid for boys in blue
Tuesday, 10th November 2009.
A new piece of technology is being tried out by Haverhill police this week which will send messages to people's mobile phones.
Anyone who has their bluetooth on could receive messages from nearby police as part of their continuing campaign to interact with the public.
Blue2 sends out a regular pulse message input by a police officer who may be in the area and keeen to reach people over a particular campaign, to advertise a meeting, or just to let people know police are in the area.
Mobile phone users need to accept the message, and although Blue2 does not record telephone numbers it provides data about how many people have accepted the message, which will be used to monitor its effectiveness.
PC Will Wright said they would only be sending out a couple of messages a day at most, and these would reach up to 350m redius of where the officer was.
"Surveys have shown a high percentage of young people have their bluetooth on all the time," he said. "This is just another way for us to reach people."
Blue2 operates from a mini-laptop which an officer can carry in his jacket, complete with aerial.
Anyone who has their bluetooth on could receive messages from nearby police as part of their continuing campaign to interact with the public.
Blue2 sends out a regular pulse message input by a police officer who may be in the area and keeen to reach people over a particular campaign, to advertise a meeting, or just to let people know police are in the area.
Mobile phone users need to accept the message, and although Blue2 does not record telephone numbers it provides data about how many people have accepted the message, which will be used to monitor its effectiveness.
PC Will Wright said they would only be sending out a couple of messages a day at most, and these would reach up to 350m redius of where the officer was.
"Surveys have shown a high percentage of young people have their bluetooth on all the time," he said. "This is just another way for us to reach people."
Blue2 operates from a mini-laptop which an officer can carry in his jacket, complete with aerial.
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