All city police departments in Gwinnett county, including Norcross, are upgrading their 911 systems so they're able to obtain emergency information from the county immediately.

Calls would still be transferred from the county dispatch to Norcross under the new system, but instead of the communications officers having to re-enter the callers' names, addresses and phone numbers, that information would be transferred instantly.

The faster data would mean faster response times for city police, said Norcross Police spokesman Capt. Brian Harr.

"It is a tremendous boost for our agency because it decreases the amount of time we'd have to ask questions, and increases our responsiveness and efficiency," he explained.

Harr added that the department had it launched its new upgraded system Thursday evening. It still has a few bugs, he said, but it's up and running.

Harr also made it clear that the system is not 100 percent fool-proof, though. Cell phones are not given exact addresses but instead longitude and latitude ordinants, so that can give some inaccuracies. 

Still, the department's new GPS system will add to the increased responsiveness, too. The GPS system tells the immediate location of every patrol car, so Norcross dispatchers will be able to immediately identify which officer is closest to every emergency location.

Editor's note: The original story reported that Norcross PD was getting its own 911 call center where emergency calls within the city were being directed immediately to Norcross instead of going through Gwinnett County's dispatchers first, as stated in a press release. The information was incorrect and has been updated in this article.

See also:

• The Blotter: City of Norcross Police Activity Sept. 25-Oct. 8
• Thief Strikes Multiple Apartment Units
• Inside the Police Reports: How Much Cash?
• Norcross PD Gets New GPS, Wi-Fi System

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