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Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) in Michigan, comprised of approximately 232 sworn officers, serves a dynamic community. A rise in illegal substance operations and homelessness are just a few of the heightened challenges in the community, and in light of these growing concerns, KCSO turned to technology to maximize their resources.
Little did they know that not one month after starting to roll out Axon Body 3 cameras and gaining access to Axon Respond for Devices, they would find the real-time situational awareness capabilities of Respond useful in a way they hadn’t expected — one that would change the course of a dangerous incident, and set the path for how they’ll use the solution going forward.
Lost and Found
When the call came in, the sun was just beginning to set over the trees in Kalamazoo, Michigan and night was quickly on its way.
There had been a stabbing and the suspects were recklessly fleeing by car. As officers followed in pursuit, the suspects crashed, fleeing the vehicle and launching themselves over a chain link fence into Fort Custer, a military training compound comprised of 3,000 square acres of dense woods and rolling hills and valleys.
As daylight faded and continued pursuit became impossible, two K9 units and their accompanying officers found themselves stranded deeper and deeper in the trees with no visual landmarks or sounds to guide them out. With the situation rapidly evolving, they had jumped out of the patrol car without even carrying their cell phones - they had nothing on them but their Axon Body 3 cameras, which would prove to be critical.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Stephen Beers was trying to find a way to lead the officers to safety. Attempts to triangulate the officers’ and K9s’ locations using the agency’s dispatch system and the car GPS were proving unsuccessful, as they didn’t give information as to the officers’ actual real-time locations.
Reinforcements had arrived to the scene, but the woods were so thick and impenetrable that, as Sgt. Beers later found out, the officers were “no more than 200-300 yards away from a cruiser with its lights fully activated and its siren going but they couldn’t hear a thing.”
It was then that Sgt. Beers remembered his agency’s new access to Respond for Devices, which would allow him to use location-mapping and livestreaming to pinpoint the officers’ exact locations from their Axon Body 3s and lead them to safety.
He placed a call to KCSO’s Axon sales account executive, who the agency fondly refers to as their “care provider”, and she answered immediately. With her help, he was spun up in just five minutes on the Axon Respond for Devices mobile app, allowing him to use it on the move. By tracking the officers’ location on the live maps and viewing the scene from the cameras’ perspective with Respond from his phone, he was able to see both what the officers could see through the rugged terrain, and what they couldn’t — that they were very near an intersection where a cruiser could pick them up safely. With this real- time information at his fingertips, he was able to guide them out of the woods.
If the agency hadn’t used Respond for Devices, this could’ve been a very different story. “You couldn’t fly a drone through there... we would’ve had to wait it out until the light of day - and it had just gotten dark,” said Sgt. Beers. Because of Respond for Devices, everyone was able to get home more quickly - and safely - that night.
Using Respond in the future
That night was the first time KCSO used Respond for Devices in conjunction with their Body 3 cameras,
but it won’t be the last, after seeing first-hand how valuable it can be to protecting officers. Command
staff plans on using it to check on officers, have a greater real-time understanding of where their resources are deployed, and see if they need additional support. Sheriff Rick Fuller of KCSO sees it as another way to accomplish his responsibilities.
“[Chiefs and sheriffs] are responsible for the safety of their people and making sure they’re going home at night. You never know when that swamp’s gonna be there, you never know when that big thick forest is gonna be there, you never know what circumstances are going to lead you to need this technology - and when you have it, it’s a lifesaver.” – Sheriff Rick Fuller