The Westport Police Department’s CodeRed system seems to work. Westporters who sign up for the “reverse 911” program have received information about — and helped resolve — issues like missing or suicidal persons.
(I’m surprised, though, that the CodeRed calls provide intimate details like bipolarity and full names.)
CodeRed calls are also used for weather emergencies — most notably, the March nor’easter and last month’s non-tornado — and traffic problems.
Most Westporters appreciate the CodeRed calls, and have learned to recognize the “866” number that shows up on Caller ID. We’re no longer alarmed at, or puzzled by, the 10-second lag between when we answer and when the call begins.
However, all is not perfect in CodeRed-ville. Consider this comment from an “06880” reader:
Last Friday I was awakened at 6:30 a.m. by both my cell phone and landline loudly ringing at the same time. It was the Westport PD CodeRed regarding cars that had been broken into in the Old Hill area.
While I appreciate the warning, it seemed unnecessary to call so early. Anyway, I got an early start that day, and got a lot accomplished, as did many other Westporters I’m sure.
P. S. I keep my car locked in my garage – seems like a good idea to me.
And — while we’re on the topic of cop communications — what’s up with Nixle? That’s the add-on feature recently offered by the Police Department — a “social networking” tool that sends bulletins by email and text.
I signed up for all 3 options offered: “advisories, traffic, community.” I wasn’t sure what “community” meant, but I figured the cops would keep me up to date on what I needed to know.
Well, this is what it means:
The Westport Police Department today received a donation of two police bicycles from a local business.
New Country Toyota of 777 Post Road East, Westport, donated two new police bicycles. The new bikes were presented to the department by General Manager James Tucker. The new police bikes, along with two donated by New Country Toyota in 2008, will be used by police officers specially trained for bike patrol.
The value of bike-mounted police officers was demonstrated during the fireworks this year when bike officers responded, cleared traffic lanes and guided needed medical equipment for EMS units inside the beach within a couple of minutes, despite thousands of vehicles leaving at the same time.
“The police department is very grateful to New Country Toyota for this donation,” said Deputy Chief Dale E. Call, “especially in these difficult economic times, their continued support of the community is greatly appreciated .”
Um, that’s nice.
Officer David Wolf, New Country Toyota GM James Tucker and detective Sereniti Dobson show off the Police Department's new bikes.
Congratulations, I guess, and thanks to New Country Toyota (I assume the bikes were cheaper to donate than new Highlanders).
But you’ll understand, I’m sure, if I delete “Community” from my list of alerts. I do want to know what’s going on in town.
I just don’t need to know that our cops now have 2 more bikes.