Police use system like Skype to negotiate with suspect

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Police in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie turned to Skype-like technology Monday morning to help defuse a standoff involving a man with a gun, according to CBS DFW.

The incident started just after midnight at the Sugar Creek Apartments, when authorities were called to the scene regarding a domestic disturbance and a possible intoxicated female. CBS DFW says when police arrived they detained the woman, then went to speak with a man inside one apartment unit. Officials reportedly explained that they were going to take the woman for a few hours, and the man agreed.

But he soon changed his mind, calling 911 and demanding that police release the woman from custody. He threatened suicide and indicated that he had a gun.

Police deployed a SWAT team around the apartment complex and a standoff lasted through the night. According to CBS DFW, as it turned out, both the man and woman involved are legally deaf. To negotiate with the man, officials turned to a telephone service called Relay Texas, designed for individuals with speech or hearing impairments.

The service is similar to Skype, and allowed officers to use sign language and hand signals through a video display, to communicate with the barricaded suspect.

“This was an interesting case that I’ve never seen in my 20-year career as a police officer,” Det. Lyle Gensler with the Grand Prairie Police Dept. told CBS DFW. “We communicated with somebody via video technology.”

The suspect was taken into custody just before 6:30 a.m. on Monday and transported to Parkland Hospital in Dallas for an evaluation. He did not appear to be intoxicated, police said. Nobody was injured during the incident, and officials do not anticipate filing any charges.

Just after the situation was resolved, Gensler said that the technology “turned out to work and be very effective.”