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20 LAW ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY MAY 2017 www.officer.com C O V E R S T O R Y Mass notifications: Alerting civilians and responders The Bay County Sheriff 's Department located in Bay City, Mich., has seen and responded to several large natural disasters in its history, including mas- sive flooding in the 1980s and 1990s. In an average year the department responds to many different types of weather-related emergencies including water rescue missions, flooding, winter snowstorms and more, says Sheriff Troy Cunningham. Years ago, whenever a natural disas- ter would strike, sheriffs were tasked with pulling out a list of phone numbers and manually calling deputies to have them report to the station —a process that was laborious and slow moving, recalls Cunningham. Now, it's done in a fraction of that time with their emer- gency notification system from Rave Mobile Safety, which the department began utilizing two years ago. The Rave platform has stream- lined operations, decreased response times and decreased 911 calls, says Cunningham. "Now we don't have to call each deputy separately," he says. "With Rave we are able to send out a mass notification and deputies can respond in sometimes minutes, which was not the case years ago." Not only does the system allow offi- cers and firefighters to receive a noti- fication, but it also has the capability of alerting the community of a natural disaster or emergency straight to their cellphone, email or landline. "As soon as we relay something through central dispatch, everyone who has their phone is aware of it," says Ryan Manz, Bay County emergency management coordinator. This has cut down calls into 911 as people know exactly why they don't have power. "Before, we had to rely on getting ahold of the media to get it on the news that people should avoid an area. Now it goes out as we need it." As the news is pushed through Rave's system, it is also pushed to the city's busing system and Sheriff 's Department Facebook page and Twitter. The notification system has increased safety, too, says Cunningham. "Once people know that there are downed power lines in an area, they stay away from it. It cuts down on workload for officers because of that fact." Advice for disaster prep Although the storms eventually sub- side, the damage can have a lasting impact. In Fayetteville, N.C., Strepay recalls that police provided support even after the rain stopped and the flooding declined. "There were roads washed away from the water and to this day the city is still trying to fix those roads," he says. "We had to make sure that people were staying away from the downed power lines and other dangers." Strepay's advice for other agen- cies is to be prepared now and have a natural disaster operational plan in place. "Technology is great but only when it works and sometimes during an emergency you have to know how to do things with your hands," he says. Fayetteville has a real-time crime center that has cameras on all of the major thoroughfares throughout town. This usually allows officials to locate downed trees and power lines, but when that technology stopped work- ing, the police department had to modify its original plan. "The power lines lost power so the cameras didn't work," says Strepay. "I recommend that all agencies should be trained on what happens if you lose power, and familiarize yourself with things when technology no longer works." Officer Asia Cannon recommends keeping a good working relationship with other first responders in your area as well. "You've got to be able to reach out and work together with EMS and the fire department," she says. "Create a partnership because you will all be communicating with one another dur- ing the disaster." Bay County's Sheriff Cunningham recommends that if your police depart- ment is responding continuously to The Rave Mobile Safety system allows officers and firefighters to receive a mass notification and also has the capability of alerting the community of a natural disaster or emergency straight to their cellphone, email or landline. Photo cour tsey of Rave Mobile Safet y