BOY’S MOM WITH CHILD NEGLECT FOR ALLOWING THE GUN TO BE ACCESSIBLE. NEXT TIME YOU CALL FOR HELP, AI COULD BE ANSWERING THAT CALL. TONIGHT, WINTER GARDEN POLICE HOPE CITY COUNCIL WILL APPROVE THE ADDITION TO ITS COMMUNICATIONS CENTER. WESH TWO LINDSAY LOHAN IS LIVE IN DOWNTOWN WINTER GARDEN. AND LINDSAY, YOU FOUND THIS ACTUALLY WORKING IN OTHER PLACES. IN VOLUSIA COUNTY. IN FACT, THEY’VE HAD THAT PROGRAM FOR SEVEN MONTHS NOW AND SAY IT’S SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED WAIT TIMES DURING 911 CALLS. WHEN THEY TESTED THAT PROGRAM, THEY SAID 93% OF THE CALLS THAT WERE MADE TO 911 WERE ANSWERED WITHIN 10S. I DON’T KNOW, WHAT DO YOU NEED, POLICE, FIRE OR AMBULANCE? IF YOU CALL 911, YOU DON’T NECESSARILY CARE WHO ANSWERS AS LONG AS SOMEONE DOES. MY NAME IS EVA. HOW CAN I HELP YOU TODAY? THAT’S WHERE EVA, AN AI ASSISTANT, COMES IN. SHE’S SUPPOSED TO HANDLE ALL CALLS DIALED THROUGH THE NON-EMERGENCY LINES. THIS IS THE CAT’S IN THE TREE. LOUD MUSIC DISABLED. AUTO. POTHOLE. THAT WAS VOLUSIA COUNTY SHERIFF MIKE CHITWOOD EXPLAINING HOW IT WORKS AFTER THEY LAUNCHED IT BACK IN AUGUST. WINTER GARDEN HOPES TO BE THE NEXT. IT’S TERRIBLE. WHY? BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT GOING TO WANT TO USE A COMPUTER TO DETERMINE THAT. YOU’RE GOING TO WANT TO USE SOME HUMAN TOUCH. IT MAKES SENSE TO ME. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS THE FUTURE. I DRIVE A TESLA WITH, YOU KNOW, SELF-DRIVING AND OUR NEW BEST FRIEND IN THE CAR IS CALLED GROCK, WHO TELLS US EVERYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERYWHERE WE GO. WHICH IS WHY WE’RE HERE. VISITING TODAY. RIGHT NOW, WINTER GARDENS DISPATCH CENTER HANDLES 911 AND NON-EMERGENCY CALLS. ALONG WITH COMMUNICATING TO OFFICERS, THE CHIEF SAYS THEY HANDLE 90,000 CALLS A YEAR. ONLY A THIRD OF THOSE FOR 911. IN AN EMAIL, THE DEPARTMENT TOLD ME THIS PROGRAM WILL ENABLE THE FASTER HANDLING OF NON-EMERGENCY CALLS, WHICH IN TURN FREES UP OUR DISPATCHERS TO FOCUS ON EMERGENCY CALLS AND RADIO TRAFFIC WITH OUR OFFICERS WITHOUT ADDING ANY ADDITIONAL STAFFING REQUIREMENTS IN THE CALL CENTER. HE ADDED IT’S A TOUGH, STRESSFUL JOB AND ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO ALLEVIATE SOME OF THE BURDEN THEY FACE DAY TO DAY IS DEFINITELY A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. THE CHIEF ALSO NOTED THAT THERE ARE CURRENTLY FOUR OPEN POSITIONS IN THEIR DISPATCH CENTER, WHICH MEANS THAT SOME DISPATCHERS HAVE TO WORK OVERTIME TO MAKE SURE THERE’S SOMEBODY THERE TO ANSWER THE CALLS. HE SAID THIS PROGRAM WOULD ALLEVIATE THAT STRESS. IT C
Winter Garden considers having AI take 911 calls in its dispatch center
Updated: 6:36 PM EST Feb 26, 2026
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Winter Garden’s Police Chief hopes the city commission will approve an agreement to use artificial intelligence to pick up non-emergency calls dialed into its communication center. In a letter to the city manager, Chief Steve Graham wrote, “Our police communications center handles over 90,000 telephone calls per year, one-third of which is 911. The rest of the calls are administrative in nature. With staffing and overtime concerns, we believe that this system will assist with the workload and provide for a less stressful environment for our telecommunicators.”Right now, the city’s dispatchers handle all 911 calls, non-emergency calls and radio traffic with officers. The new system with the company Aurelian would answer the non-emergency calls. Volusia County launched the same AI assistant in August and Sheriff Mike Chitwood explained what some of those calls could be: “This is the cats in the tree. Loud music, disabled auto, pothole.”Volusia County reported that during testing, 93 percent of 911 calls were answered within 10 seconds, significantly better than the national standard.In an email to WESH 2, Lt. Mike Mason wrote, “The Winter Garden Police Department is always endeavoring to optimize our operation through the use of modern technology. This program will enable the faster handling of non-emergency calls; which in turn frees up our dispatchers to focus on emergency calls and radio traffic with our officers without adding any additional staffing requirements in the call center. This technology also reduces wait times for the public during times of high call volume and it’s our hope that it will foster stronger community trust by delivering an efficient, multilingual services that exceeds public expectations.”If approved, it would cost $55,000 a year.
WINTER GARDEN, Fla. —
Winter Garden’s Police Chief hopes the city commission will approve an agreement to use artificial intelligence to pick up non-emergency calls dialed into its communication center.
In a letter to the city manager, Chief Steve Graham wrote, “Our police communications center handles over 90,000 telephone calls per year, one-third of which is 911. The rest of the calls are administrative in nature. With staffing and overtime concerns, we believe that this system will assist with the workload and provide for a less stressful environment for our telecommunicators.”
Right now, the city’s dispatchers handle all 911 calls, non-emergency calls and radio traffic with officers. The new system with the company Aurelian would answer the non-emergency calls. Volusia County launched the same AI assistant in August and Sheriff Mike Chitwood explained what some of those calls could be: “This is the cats in the tree. Loud music, disabled auto, pothole.”
Volusia County reported that during testing, 93 percent of 911 calls were answered within 10 seconds, significantly better than the national standard.
In an email to WESH 2, Lt. Mike Mason wrote, “The Winter Garden Police Department is always endeavoring to optimize our operation through the use of modern technology. This program will enable the faster handling of non-emergency calls; which in turn frees up our dispatchers to focus on emergency calls and radio traffic with our officers without adding any additional staffing requirements in the call center. This technology also reduces wait times for the public during times of high call volume and it’s our hope that it will foster stronger community trust by delivering an efficient, multilingual services that exceeds public expectations.”
If approved, it would cost $55,000 a year.
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