The Ridgefield Police Department has upgraded its 911 emergency contact telephone system to accommodate text messages, when that service becomes available in the state.
The upgrade to the system was made last September, said Capt. Jeffery Kreitz, spokesman for the department. Eventually it means the public will be able to contact police for help by texting, rather than by dialing 911 on their telephone.
That matters because during domestic or terror incidents, texted messages can often get through secretly.
“We don’t have the capacity to receive texts yet, nor does anyone, but we were updated,” Kreitz said.
The department even has a name for it: next generation 911.
“I know it’s up and coming,” Kreitz said. “It should be here, but I’m not sure when.”
The introduction of the texting capability is the most significant change to the 911 system since it began in the late 1960s.
Connecticut residents will soon be able to text 911 in an emergency, according to the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP), which operates the emergency communication system.
Ridgefield is one of about 24 dispatch centers out of 110 statewide that have been or are being upgraded to the new texting system.
“Text will be able to roll out probably by the second quarter if it goes well,” said Mike Guerrera, planning specialist for the state DESPP.
“There were issues that came up that had to be rectified, but we’re well on the way to getting that done,” he said. The existing equipment was about 16 years old and replacement parts were no longer available. So the state decided to upgrade to the latest system available, which includes the texting capability, he said.
The post Ridgefield Police ready for 911 texts appeared first on The Ridgefield Press.