Police officers are all too familiar with the task of searching for people who don’t want to be found. However on occasions when people desperately do want to be located, information is the key to finding them quickly.

“WA Police Air Wing crew began to wonder if the features of modern smart phones could be combined to help find lost people,” said Police Air Wing OIC, Inspector Peter Scott. “Features such as the illuminated screen, telephony, GPS location and mobile mapping are all useful in finding someone quickly.”

To turn these ideas into reality, Police Air Wing contacted Professor Peng Lam, a lecturer in IT studies at Edith Cowan University (ECU).

“Six months later a team of her students had produced a smart phone app, designed for android devices,” Inspector Scott said. “The app has the capacity to dial 000, or any other emergency service number, and send an SMS to each of the user’s phonebook contacts appealing for help and giving his or her location in latitude and longitude. In addition to making the emergency call, the phone provides a background map of where the person is, displaying coordinates and the street address.

“The app was recently tested by Air Wing. ECU students took phones into bushland areas and activated them. Using the onboard navigation system, the police helicopter was able to locate individuals within a matter of minutes both on using thermal imaging and the smart phone strobes, a part of the app which was easily visible at distances of three to four kilometres using night vision goggles,” said Inspector Scott.

“The app also includes information on short term bush survival in the form of a small library of notes,” he said. “It’s a good example of the contemporary thinking at Air Wing and also demonstrates the value of partnerships between WA Police Air Wing and ECU, and will ultimately provide benefits to the community when this app is released later in the year.”