You can get real-time traffic data on Elgin police Twitter
Want to avoid traffic accidents during your morning commute in Elgin? Just check out the police department's Twitter feed.
Information about traffic-related issues including light malfunctions, downed wires, stuck railroad gates, hazards on the roadway and more is being sent from Elgin's 911 call center to the police department's Twitter account @ElginPD.
Elgin's new technology initiative appears to be the only one of its kind in the country, officials said.
The initiative - which includes Google Maps links - debuted Wednesday afternoon and no glitches were reported so far, Elgin police senior management analyst Kristi Hilton said.
The police department worked with Michigan-based software company New World Systems the last year to develop the technology.
The information is sent automatically to Twitter as dispatchers log 911 calls in the system, which means the public is getting the information at the same time that police officers respond to calls, Hilton said. Any calls reporting injuries or people trapped in vehicles are labeled as "possible," Hilton said.
Elgin is the company's first customer to go live with a direct 911-to-Twitter feed, said David Leinweber, director of marketing for New World Systems.
Although it's common for law enforcement to manually tweet traffic information, there does not seem to be any other law enforcement agencies besides Elgin using automation, he said.
"We have a number (of law enforcement departments) who are interested at this point," Leinweber said.
The police department transitioned to an encrypted radio system last year, which means people can't listen to radio calls on regular scanners anymore. The new Twitter initiative is restoring some of that access to information, Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said.
"When we have the information and it's not going to intrude on someone's privacy, we'll push it out," Swoboda said.
Twitter has a limit of how many tweets can be made in an hour, so large-scale events - such as last September's large storm that causing severe damage throughout Elgin - that yield hundreds of calls might result in tweets showing up a few hours after the fact, Hilton said.
That would be very rare, however, she said. "We can just stop the interface if it's just ridiculous," she said.
The $10,000 initiative is funded by a federal justice assistance grant, Hilton said.
Those who don't use Twitter will be able to access real-time traffic data on their iPhones and Android phones when the city launches a 311 app this summer designed to convey information about all things Elgin.