CARMEL, Ind. — Drivers in Carmel will now receive real-time alerts when police officers are responding to emergencies, conducting traffic stops or involved in pursuits, thanks to new technology rolled out by the Carmel Police Department.
The system, called Pursuit Alert, integrates with the Waze navigation app to notify nearby motorists when an emergency vehicle is in the area, WTHR reports. Drivers who have Waze enabled on their phones automatically receive alerts encouraging them to slow down, move over and remain alert.
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“It’s essentially to give notifications to the motoring public that there’s an emergency vehicle in the area,” Carmel Police Chief Drake Sterling told WTHR.
When activated, the system sends alerts to drivers within a roughly 1.5-mile radius of a patrol car. The notification moves with the vehicle, whether officers are responding with lights and sirens, preparing to initiate a traffic stop or engaged in a pursuit.
“If there’s an emergency vehicle on the move, it’s going to tell you that it’s in your area,” Sterling said.
The technology was installed in nearly all Carmel patrol vehicles in November, making the department the first in the Midwest to deploy the system, according to police.
Department leaders say the goal is to reduce the growing risk officers face on roadways — particularly during traffic stops and roadside incidents.
“Lately, there’s been a number of officers whose vehicles have been hit, and we want to avoid that,” Sterling said.
The rollout comes amid a series of recent crashes involving Indiana State Police troopers struck while stopped along highways, according to WTHR. In one recent incident on Interstate 465, a trooper’s patrol car was rear-ended while assisting on the roadside — the fourth time that trooper had been hit in similar circumstances, according to ISP Sgt. John Perrine.
“We’re putting a lot of faith in those thousands of cars that are passing us that they’re paying attention and doing the right thing,” Perrine said. “Because it just takes one time — one person not paying attention — that has life-changing consequences.”
Carmel police say the Pursuit Alert system is intended to add another layer of protection but does not replace the need for drivers to comply with move-over laws.
The technology cost approximately $23,000 and was funded through the department’s seizure fund, not taxpayer dollars, according to police.
