Question 1

How do I subscribe?

Accepted Answer

Simply go to the Subscribe page and follow the instructions.  It's easy and it is month-to-month with no further commitment.  You can pick a set of addresses to monitor (such as your home, your child's school, an elderly parent's house, etc) and choose a radius around each address where you want to be alerted of calls.  You also can pick specific types of 911 calls and be alerted of them anywhere in the city (building fires, major accidents, etc.).  Once you subscribe, we give you personalized assistance setting up exactly the monitoring your want.

Question 2

What types of incidents can receive alerts for?

Accepted Answer

You pick and choose the addresses, proximity, and types of alerts you individually want to receive.  While we automatically monitor the 911 dispatch feed, we only alert each subscriber when the call matches their criteria.
 
You can be alerted for 911 dispatches for most types of Fire and EMS calls in Seattle.  Even though you can't directly get alerted for Police dispatches, most serious Police incidents have a Fire or Medic response also.  For example, a shooting would be a Police incident, but you would still get alerted because Medics would respond also.
 
As a subscriber, you will receive personalized assistance creating an monitoring plan that enables alerts for what and where you care about most.

Question 3

How am I alerted of an incident?

Accepted Answer

When you subscribe, you will receive personalized assitance setting up the monitoring.  You can choose a combination of Text Alerts, Email Alerts, and automated Voice Calls (in beta).
 
Alerts always come from the same phone number, so you can create a contact with this number and assign a custom ring tone to it.

Question 4

Can I temporarily monitor a location where I am, like a restaurant?"

Accepted Answer

Yes!  You can do this for free, even if you are not a subscriber.  From within the City of Seattle, send a text message to 206-535-1676 saying "monitor" (without quotes). You will get alerts for two hours for any calls within 1/4 mile of your location.

Question 5

How do I contact someone for questions or support?

Accepted Answer

You can email 911@kingfriday.com to get a real human response.

Question 6

How do I unsubscribe?

Accepted Answer

Visit our Unsubscribe page and follow the instructions.

Question 7

How does this service work?

Accepted Answer

Our service monitors the live data feeds created by Seattle's CAD (computer-aided-dispatch) system.  As long as CAD is working and the data feeds are being published, we process the feeds, geo-encode addresses to calculate proximities, and trigger push alerts to our subscribers.  Most often, you are notified within 3 minutes of the 911 call - often well before emergency services even arrives on scene.

FAQs

Seattle 911 calls near me