Yes we do. We use the trunking system and we have a panic button. So when we press it out number flashes on the dispatch system and sends an alarm. Dispatch will then send people to you last know call. Fire and EMS also has it.

well for my pd who are still using 99 crown vics. yes they are an upgrade. 

Holly cow we get rid of 2006's and up and you still have 99's wow how is that safe. P71's are good cars but dam they do wear out.

I'm a Community Service Officer with a large university police department and yes, we have the red buttons on our radios. If you hit it anything you say will talk over everyone else on the channel. I believe you have to restart your radio to disable it, however. 

Fire and EMS also has it.

Firefighters actually wear a device that sets off its own alarm frequency specific to the firefighter if he gets injured. You hear hundreds off them going off when the towers fall in professionally shot 9/11 videos. As someone who is EMS trained, I have no idea what use that button would do for other emergency workers compared to calling for PD over the radio, as there are no "backup ambulances". Students in my courses were merely trained to leave the scene, and if you're getting shot at, take cover behind the engine block, being the thickest part of the car. Firefighters, Paramedics and EMT's really need weapons...

Edited October 27, 201510 yr by unr3al

When I was with NYPD we had the button on our radio's but it wasn't active but Suffolk CountyCounty PD in long island new York had them and they even had a system like the firefighters that if you were on the ground for a certain amount if time it would set off the emergency system

When I was with NYPD we had the button on our radio's but it wasn't active but Suffolk CountyCounty PD in long island new York had them and they even had a system like the firefighters that if you were on the ground for a certain amount if time it would set off the emergency system

That would be quite useful if an officer got hurt and couldn't go for his radio. Possibly life saving.

Agreed

Where are the panic buttons located on a police officer? I am writing a book, I need to know this in order to write more of my book

On 2/21/2020 at 11:09 AM, Joseph Bedgood said:

Where are the panic buttons located on a police officer? I am writing a book, I need to know this in order to write more of my book

 

If enabled, it is the orange button on their radio. Every radio that's used in public service has one, although the system must be properly configured to support it. Some RSMs (I believe all of the new Motorola APX accessories) will have one on there as well. Additionally, there are various other forms of activation that can be enabled on a specific subscriber, such as horizontal sensor/man down or remote emergency button.

 

Basically whether or not it will work, and what happens when you press it, is entirely up to the programming in the subscriber unit and the setup of the system. All systems, even analog conventional, are capable of some form of emergency call/alert if properly configured, but often they are not.

On 9/6/2015 at 10:57 AM, AlconH said:

In the UK, police have panic buttons on their radio which causes all radio traffic but their own to cease and for 7 seconds the officer's mic is open for everyone to hear. It also alerts dispatch who then locates the officer and sends everyone there.

Do the US have this sort of system in place?

 

My agency does. We refer to them as an "e-trig" short for "emergency trigger." There is one on my portable radio and one on my MDT. 

 

The one on my radio will make the radio automatically key up for like 5 seconds. When you press it a big ass alert pops up in our communications center with alarms and shit and has the officer's ID and GPS location of the officer's patrol car. Dispatch will immediately tone out and broadcast an e-trig alert and the location and try to get the officer on the radio. Like 99% of the time the officer comes back and reassures everyone it was an accidental activation.

My department has them.  They are pressed accidentally all the time.  Dispatcher just has them confirm all is OK and that's it.  Never heard an officer use it when it was real.  When it's real they just call in over the radio. 

I work Fire/EMS and our portable radios have a button which we can press which sets off the computors in dispatch that portable 12 from EFD was activated for example, we were even taught that sometimes if we couldnt talk due to the circumstances we could just hit the button and turn the radio off so the person doesnt know you did so

They do stateside, but a lot of them behave differently between departments and how they're programmed. I work private security for a very wealthy company, and they really do shell out for their security services. We've got panic buttons programmed similarly to what you described, as well as wireless microphones and full-fledged cruisers: 2017 Ford Explorers outfitted with all the fancy gadgets with licensed Whelen controllers, sirens, and blue lights. It's surely interesting.