Smart Home Speaker Alerts Police To Domestic Assault

These days smart speakers are gaining in popularity, which we guess had a lot to do with Amazon’s Echo series of devices that helped to kick things off. This has led to several prominent tech companies to follow suit with their own speakers, such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and last we heard, Samsung could be interested as well.

Now it seems that in a report from ABC News, a smart speaker could have potentially saved the life of a woman and her child. According to a report, Eduardo Barros was house-sitting with his girlfriend and her daughter in New Mexico when they got into an argument that turned violent. He apparently wielded a firearm and threatened to kill his girlfriend, but his choice of words was actually what saved them.

Barros was apparently quoted as saying, “Did you call the sheriffs?” in which an unidentified smart speaker picked up on the phrase and recognized it as a command to call 911, leading the police to the location and arresting Barros, where is now facing charges of possession of a firearm, along with aggravated battery and aggravated assault.

In a statement made to ABC News, Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III was quoted as saying, “The unexpected use of this new technology to contact emergency services has possibly helped save a life. This amazing technology definitely helped save a mother and her child from a very violent situation.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets, General
Tags: Connected Objects, IoT (Internet of Things), Legal, Speakers