Bryan Police Department sends out first public emergency notification

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Whether someone is dialing 9-1-1 or calling a tow truck, cell phones are a lifeline in emergency situations and local organizations are using real-time notifications to keep people safe.

On Monday, the Bryan Police Department sent out its first public emergency notification. It was used to notify people to shelter in place while Bryan Police were investigating a report of armed juveniles near Jane Long Intermediate.

The Bryan Police Department said notifications are requested by the department and then pushed out through dispatch. It’s the same system used by Brazos County Emergency Management known as Code RED.

“It uses the same technology as national weather service alerts, Amber Alerts, FEMA and what we can do is send it to a predetermined area where it gets sent directly to user’s cell phones so you don’t have to sign up for anything it’s sent to you just as those national weather alerts are,” BPD Public Information Officer Kole Taylor said.

Taylor said the recently integrated system has been in the works for some time. It is something he said will be a great asset to the community.

“We can really use it for anything where there is severe damage to property, storms, it can be used for any kind of event where there could be a potential loss of life as well,” Taylor said. “If we think there can be a risk somewhere we can get this information out to the community faster.”

While notifications from BPD require no sign that is not the case for all emergency notifications that are sent from the Code RED system. Individuals will need to sign up on Brazos County’s Emergency Management Website.

“It’s our way of trying to get information out to the public in a wide variety of instances,” Brazos County Emergency Management Coordinator, Michele Meade said. “Whether it’s a planned utility outage, whether it’s a missing person whether it’s something weather related, whether it is an active shooter type situation we’re looking for a system that has a lot of different options in terms of being able to deliver timely information to the public.”

Meade said one of the biggest challenges in getting information out to the public is evolving technology and a population that is constantly changing.

“The challenge is trying to get information out to the public in a timely fashion and it also extends to those instances when we have a lot of visitors in town for special events,” Meade said. “Urge as many people as possible to get signed up for the Code RED system.”

Those interested can sign up at this link.