Montgomery County Sheriffs office unveils new life saving technology at the

local Board of Supervisors meeting

NicoleVerdin|nicoleev@vt.edu|7035080454

CHRISTIANSBURG,Va.In2015,50,212officers
wereassaultedwhileonduty.28.4%ofthoseofficers
wereinjured,tenlessthan2014accordingtotheFederal
BureauofInvestigation.SheriffHankPartinofthe
MontgomeryCountyPoliceDepartmenthasdevelopeda
newtechnologythatistheleadingpioneerinreducing
thesenumbers.

Twoyearsago,PartinbegandevelopingtheAutomatic
InjuryDetectionsystemtohelpreduceresponsetime
whenthereisanofficerinjuredonduty. Photo courtesy of the Roanoke Times.
Montgomery County Sheriff, Hank Partin, displays the
new Automatic Injury Detection Panel that 133 deputies
PartindescribestheAutomaticInjuryDetection will receive within the department in order to provide
Systemasaplasticpanelwithseveralsensorsthatis rapid response in the case of an emergency.
insertedintoaDeputysbulletproofvest.[partial
quote]Ifanofficerwastobestabbed,shotorshankedbyaperpetratoraBluetoothtransmitter
willautomaticallysendinformationincludingthelocationoftheinjuryandaGPSlocationofthe
officertothelocal911dispatchersandconnectedcellphonenumbers.TheBluetoothradioswill
beequippedwiththeofficersmedicalinformationsuchasallergiesandbloodtypetoassistthe
dispatcherswhentheyarriveonthescene.ThevideoincludedademonstrationoftheAIDSata
shootingrange15milesawayfromtheSheriffsoffice.Partinshootsthepanelandwithin
secondstheofficersbackattheSheriffsdepartmentreceiveatextmessageofwhatofficerwas
shot,wheretheywerewoundedandtheirgeographicallocation.Afterconductingtestssuchas
theonedisplayed,Partinsaidthatallofthistechnologywillonedaysavelives.[indirectquote]

During the March 13 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, Partin showed a
video to give a visual representation of how the AID system works so the board and
Montgomery County taxpayers were able to see how their contributions were used. Duringthe
meetingAprilDemott,amemberoftheMontgomeryCountyBoardofSupervisorsthanked
Partinforcomingtothemforfundingandforgiving[theboard]theopportunitytosupportthe
sheriffsdepartment.

TheMontgomeryCountySheriffsOfficewasthefirsttopilotthisproject.Thedepartmenthas
notlostanofficerinthelineofdutysince2006.CorporalEricSutphinwaskilledwhile
searchingforanescapeefromjailatthebeginningoftheHuckleberryTrailinBlacksburgwhere
itbecomeshardtoreachpeople.Partinexplainsthatbecausethereareseveralareasintheir
districtthathavepoorcellservice,theAIDsystemistheonlywaytoensureequalsafetytothose
whorespondacrossthecountyinordertopreventdeathssimilartoSutphins.
ApolicedepartmentinMinnesotawasthefirsttopickupontheAIDsystemthroughthe
MontgomeryCountySherriffstwitterpage.Sincethelaunchoftheproduct,manyother
VirginiadistrictssuchasRichmond,Halifax,WiseandevensomedepartmentsinAlabama,
Pennsylvania,FloridaandWashingtonD.ChavebeguntheimplementationoftheAIDsystem
intotheirdepartments.WhenaskedbySupervisorMaryBiggsifpolicedepartmentsin
ChristiansburgandBlacksburghaveshowninterest,Partinsaidhehasnotbeencontactedby
themyet.

Iamexcitedtohavethistechnologyonmydeputys,butmostimportantlytospreadtheword
wideandfarPutinsaid.Itisahardtimetobeapoliceofficerbutthemorepoliceofficerswith
thesepanelsthebetteroffweare.[directquote]