Crime averted as smart home device calls cops amid fracas
12 Jul 2017
Smart home devices are proving they can be quite valuable for police. A smart device called the police in New Mexico, USA, when a couple was allegedly involved in a violent domestic dispute.
According to ABC News, officers were called to a home outside Albuquerque this week when a smart device called 911 and the operator heard a confrontation in the background.
Police say that Eduardo Barros, who was at the residence with his girlfriend and their daughter, pulled a gun on his girlfriend when they got into an argument and asked her: ''Did you call the sheriffs?'' A smart device in the home apparently heard ''call the sheriffs,'' and proceeded to - call the sheriffs!
A SWAT team arrived at the home and after negotiating for hours, they were able to take Barros into custody. Police told ABC News that the man's girlfriend was injured but did not need to visit a hospital. The couple's daughter was unharmed.
''The unexpected use of this new technology to contact emergency services has possibly helped save a life,'' Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III said in a statement.
Barros was charged with possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon, aggravated battery against a household member, aggravated assault against a household member and false imprisonment.
The incident follows a recent case in which onlinde retailer Amazon handed over data from its Echo device to police investigating a murder.
While smart home technology is the hero, it will certainly leave some people uneasy, being a clear reminder that smart home devices are always listening. It is not known what data, if any, was recorded by the Amazon Echo that was involved in the December murder case. But police felt confident enough that it may have recorded audio of the incident to seek a warrant.
In a different incident in January, a local TV news broadcast involving a dollhouse reportedly triggered multiple Amazon Echo devices in the area to start ordering dollhouses. It's easy to imagine police getting tired of being called to citizen's homes every time they watch the latest episode of Law and Order, comments Gizmodo.
