North Yorkshire Police have embraced a new location-sharing technology
The app makes finding people in places without addresses such as parks, beaches or crowded festivals simple.
what3words has divided the globe into a grid of 3m x 3m squares, giving each one a unique three-word address. For example, the front door to the Scarborough News office can be found at ///quick.bakers.upwardly.
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Hide AdThe technology is rapidly being embraced by emergency services across the country. In West Yorkshire, what3words was used to locate man who had fallen down a railway embankment.
On another occasion, a West Yorkshire Police call handler used the technology to quickly assist a caller.
The call handler said: “I used what3words recently whilst working in the contact centre taking 999 calls.
“A call was received from a member of the public who witnessed a road traffic collision which blocked the entire road.
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Hide Ad“There was also a damaged lamp-post creating a danger to members of the public. The caller didn’t know their location, so I sent them the text, she followed my instructions on what to do and read me her what3words location.
“I was then able to identify where she was and ensured an emergency response was deployed to her exact location.”
The what3words can be downloaded for free for iOS and Android.