During the last two weeks, we had fifty new users join our Social Media Programs. To all Welcome and we hope you find our programs informative.
We had two critical events during the last two weeks where our social media played important roles. The first was the State Wide failure of police emergency phone lines. All direct police and fire department phone lines went down. Normally if this occurs, voicemail messages left are redirected to email accounts so we get the information. This was not working as well. Folks dialing the police emergency number would find their calls failed. Dispatch was operating on cellphones and all incoming and outgoing lines were out. The 911 center was receiving calls. They forwarded 911 calls to Dispatch via the state computer and that information was relayed to police and fire via radio. Dispatch did an outstanding job making the best out of a crisis.
On the local level, our Town Emergency Management Department was notified. A decision was made to open a walk in center at the Fire Department Office. This put EMS, Fire and Police in one spot where people could go if communications failed. We notified the public via our social media and was able to get the word out on how to reach us if all else failed. Pre-Social Media, this would not be possible.
The second crisis that we monitored locally was a suspicious package located at one of our schools in Farminton. School Officials and Public Safety Officials in Farmington made the right decision to treat it as a threat and put the safety of our children first. Middleton has a little less than 300 students who attend the Farmington School System.
Behind the scenes, the Middleton Police Departmartment notified our local emergency management.
We were aware that the bomb squad from NH State Police were in Portmouth and had a fairly quick response time. We were in communication with Farmington Police via Text messages and were well aware of what steps were taken to make sure the children were safe.
We also monitored some of the social media sites. Word started to get out about the incident which no doubt could cause rightful panic and worries from parents such as myself. At this point a social media post was put out by us and a phone call placed by the SAU to alleviate fears of the public and decrease public panic.
We take our social media very serious and have used a multitude of programs to reach the public. As we have new folks join us, we like to stress the importance of joining us and following us. Keep in mind that during a crisis we are all hands on deck. There is a ton of work going on behind the scenes. Our priority is to get information out. We may not have time to answer questions like why did this happen or was anyone hurt during a crash. Our goal is to alert you to an issue so you can avoid it or to provide you with timely instruction during and emergency. We will do our best to communicate in a two way fashion by answering important questions when we can.
Middleton Police uses several social media platforms and most are monitored by our Partners in the press so when something is real bad, they take our accurate information and put it out in the form of alerts and breaking news. Because they get the information from us, that information is trustworthy and accurate and reaches the folks who do not use a computer or social media.
We also have a State reverse 911 system that in cases of a missing child or evacuation we can reach folks by phone with a recorded message. All landlines are already registered however if you use a cellphone, you should register here: https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/BF1506480903 You can also register your cellphone if you use a house phone so you receive alerts when you are away or at work.
The town of Middleton has a new webpage. The address is middletonnh.gov The police page located here receives our Blog as we publish them: http://www.middletonnh.gov/town-departments/police/ You will see the blog on the right side of the page. This is a good way to keep up if you do not use social media
Our Twitter Account is @Middleton Police. If you use Twitter you can follow us and have the program send an alert to your phone when we post.
Our Facebook Account is https://www.facebook.com/MiddletonPolice give us a follow and set your account to receive notifications.
Your reading our blog but in case it was forwarded from another place, the Middleton Police Blog is here: http://middletonnhpolice.blogspot.com/ Here you will find all our press releases and important articles.
Next we have our own YouTube Channel where we can upload videos. Most right now are of our K-9 Program. You can find these here: http://www.youtube.com/user/middletonnhpolice
Finally we have our mobile app which allows you to receive emergency notifications. If there is a crisis, you phone will have an alert on the front to launch. As long as you allow push notifications, you will receive them as soon as we release critical information. You can download our mobile apps here:
ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/middleton-police/id614733056?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app_middletonpolice.layout&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5hcHBfbWlkZGxldG9ucG9saWNlLmxheW91dCJd
Our mobile app allows one click calling to 911, Dispatch or the Station. There is turn by turn directions to area police departments as well as email capailities and all our social media in one spot. You can send us tips and crime photos as well. We do not use any of our social media or mobile apps for tracking purposes and do not have that capability in the programs. The programs are used to get the word out when we need to.
So a little long winded on a hot Saturday but it is important during a crisis to reach you and keep you informed with real time accurate information. If you have not joined our social media or know folks who are not following please help by sharing this information.
We had two critical events during the last two weeks where our social media played important roles. The first was the State Wide failure of police emergency phone lines. All direct police and fire department phone lines went down. Normally if this occurs, voicemail messages left are redirected to email accounts so we get the information. This was not working as well. Folks dialing the police emergency number would find their calls failed. Dispatch was operating on cellphones and all incoming and outgoing lines were out. The 911 center was receiving calls. They forwarded 911 calls to Dispatch via the state computer and that information was relayed to police and fire via radio. Dispatch did an outstanding job making the best out of a crisis.
On the local level, our Town Emergency Management Department was notified. A decision was made to open a walk in center at the Fire Department Office. This put EMS, Fire and Police in one spot where people could go if communications failed. We notified the public via our social media and was able to get the word out on how to reach us if all else failed. Pre-Social Media, this would not be possible.
The second crisis that we monitored locally was a suspicious package located at one of our schools in Farminton. School Officials and Public Safety Officials in Farmington made the right decision to treat it as a threat and put the safety of our children first. Middleton has a little less than 300 students who attend the Farmington School System.
Behind the scenes, the Middleton Police Departmartment notified our local emergency management.
We were aware that the bomb squad from NH State Police were in Portmouth and had a fairly quick response time. We were in communication with Farmington Police via Text messages and were well aware of what steps were taken to make sure the children were safe.
We also monitored some of the social media sites. Word started to get out about the incident which no doubt could cause rightful panic and worries from parents such as myself. At this point a social media post was put out by us and a phone call placed by the SAU to alleviate fears of the public and decrease public panic.
We take our social media very serious and have used a multitude of programs to reach the public. As we have new folks join us, we like to stress the importance of joining us and following us. Keep in mind that during a crisis we are all hands on deck. There is a ton of work going on behind the scenes. Our priority is to get information out. We may not have time to answer questions like why did this happen or was anyone hurt during a crash. Our goal is to alert you to an issue so you can avoid it or to provide you with timely instruction during and emergency. We will do our best to communicate in a two way fashion by answering important questions when we can.
Middleton Police uses several social media platforms and most are monitored by our Partners in the press so when something is real bad, they take our accurate information and put it out in the form of alerts and breaking news. Because they get the information from us, that information is trustworthy and accurate and reaches the folks who do not use a computer or social media.
We also have a State reverse 911 system that in cases of a missing child or evacuation we can reach folks by phone with a recorded message. All landlines are already registered however if you use a cellphone, you should register here: https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/BF1506480903 You can also register your cellphone if you use a house phone so you receive alerts when you are away or at work.
The town of Middleton has a new webpage. The address is middletonnh.gov The police page located here receives our Blog as we publish them: http://www.middletonnh.gov/town-departments/police/ You will see the blog on the right side of the page. This is a good way to keep up if you do not use social media
Our Twitter Account is @Middleton Police. If you use Twitter you can follow us and have the program send an alert to your phone when we post.
Our Facebook Account is https://www.facebook.com/MiddletonPolice give us a follow and set your account to receive notifications.
Your reading our blog but in case it was forwarded from another place, the Middleton Police Blog is here: http://middletonnhpolice.blogspot.com/ Here you will find all our press releases and important articles.
Next we have our own YouTube Channel where we can upload videos. Most right now are of our K-9 Program. You can find these here: http://www.youtube.com/user/middletonnhpolice
Finally we have our mobile app which allows you to receive emergency notifications. If there is a crisis, you phone will have an alert on the front to launch. As long as you allow push notifications, you will receive them as soon as we release critical information. You can download our mobile apps here:
ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/middleton-police/id614733056?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app_middletonpolice.layout&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5hcHBfbWlkZGxldG9ucG9saWNlLmxheW91dCJd
Our mobile app allows one click calling to 911, Dispatch or the Station. There is turn by turn directions to area police departments as well as email capailities and all our social media in one spot. You can send us tips and crime photos as well. We do not use any of our social media or mobile apps for tracking purposes and do not have that capability in the programs. The programs are used to get the word out when we need to.
So a little long winded on a hot Saturday but it is important during a crisis to reach you and keep you informed with real time accurate information. If you have not joined our social media or know folks who are not following please help by sharing this information.
Comments
Post a Comment