By Police1 Staff
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—A new program will train taxicab drivers to record and report crimes to police, with the aid of dash cams and GPS tracking.
Yellow Cab Taxi Service has paired with the Little Rock Police Department as part of the “Taxis on Patrol” program.
“This working relationship between our dispatch functions, our law enforcement officers and first responders with witnesses who know what to look for and how to report it can only help us,” Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas told Today’s THV.
Little Rock Yellow Cab President Ellis Houston said cameras are installed in more than 100 taxis. They can see what is going on inside and outside of the cab. He said drivers are trained not to intervene but to report what they see to their dispatcher and police.
The program launched in Birmingham, Ala., Oct.23, and Biloxi, Miss. a week before. It has been successful in more than 40 states.