POLICE COMMISSIONER ANNOUNCES NEW REVERSE 911 SYSTEM

In February 2003 the City of Rye Police Department installed the REVERSE 911 System, an interactive notification system designed to contact residents and/or businesses to communicate emergency information to them.

REVERSE 911 is a geographically based calling system developed in 1993 by Sigma Communications, Inc. to give public safety agencies the ability to quickly communicate with the public. The system allows the operator to scroll over specific areas on a map, or to select names or locations from a list, or to activate pre-designed lists of persons or locations, record a message, and transmit the message by telephone to the selected recipients. For example, if a report of a missing child is received, a description of the child can be recorded, along with instructions regarding how to contact the police, and automatically telephoned to residences and businesses in the surrounding area. That area can be broadened or changed as additional information is received.

The REVERSE 911 system purchased by the Department also includes a feature known as “Guardian Calling,” which is used to check on the well being of senior citizens or the homebound. The system will call participants on a regular basis -- daily or weekly, for example. They enter a designated code on their telephone keypads to verify that they are well. If they do not enter the code, immediate notifications are made to the police and to a designated contact, usually a relative or friend, and police officers are dispatched to check on them.

Since the midnight ride of Paul Revere, public safety agencies have looked for better ways to notify the public in the event of an emergency.  We have a number of systems in place – the emergency broadcast system, Rye Cable Television, fire horns, sirens, and loud speakers, for example – but the broadcast systems work only if the radio or television is on, and sirens and loudspeakers won’t be effective if a resident is asleep with an air conditioner on. REVERSE 911 is intrusive; the telephone is on, will ring to alert the resident, and will personally deliver a message.

It provides the Police Department with one additional means of providing critical information to the public.

The REVERSE 911 system was purchased at no cost to the City, using grant funding provided by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

On Friday, May 16, 2003, the City of Rye Police Department utilized its recently installed REVERSE 911 system for the first time.

When a fourth-grade student was reported missing after he left the grounds of one of the City’s elementary schools, the Department implemented its usual measures, including mobilization of personnel; search of the school building, residence, and the local area; aerial search by the County Police Aviation Unit; response of a County Police bloodhound; and broadcast of the boy’s description. This time, an additional tool was used for the first time: notification to residents and businesses using REVERSE 911.

There is one shortcoming in the system: in its current configuration, its calls will not reach blocked or unlisted telephone numbers. Residents with such numbers who wish to be added to the database can contact Sergeant Nicholas Groglio at (914) 967-1234, extension 304, to be added manually.

Questions regarding REVERSE 911 can be referred to Police Commissioner William R. Connors at (914) 967-1234, ext. 300.