If you’re a frequent user of the Michel-Chartrand park in Longueuil, you might notice new posts with blue signs around the park.
They’re called geo-locators and the City of Longueuil says they can help save your life.
The signs have numbers on them that act as addresses.
“We did 175 addresses in the park here,” Martin Carpentier, the head of Longueuil’s “Smart City” program said.
The goal is to be able to find people in need of help more easily.
People who are in trouble can call 911 and give police the number on the sign.
Police then look for the number on a map.
The map has the location of all the signs and that allows them to easily locate callers in distress.
“This definitely improves the response time, the police car does not have to search for the person,” said Jean-Pierre Voutsinos, a spokesperson with Longueuil Police.
This project is the result of a survey the city conducted asking residents how safe they feel in Longueuil.
Last September, a female jogger was attacked on one of the trails at Mont-Saint-Bruno park.
READ MORE: Mont-Saint-Bruno park visitors on edge after jogger violently attacked
Now Mount-Saint-Bruno is considering installing geo-locators there too.
Meanwhile, users of Michel-Chartrand park say the project makes them feel better about their visit.
“The sign is good because if we had that sign at the time, we take our cell and call,” Denis Carignan, whose friend got hit by a bike on a trail said.
Longueuil is planning to expand the project to other parks such as Marie-Victorin and Parc de la Cité as well as bike paths.
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