Karen Blevins, director of Jefferson County Office of Emergency Management, has issued a mission for local mayors and leaders. Any new roads and streets created in their towns or communities should be registered with emergency management, Blevins said Thursday at a meeting of the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Association.
"We've talked about the next generation 911 system and it's here," Blevins said. "We have to have all addresses in the county and the city. The new system uses lat and long [latitude and longitude]." Blevins said that this order is mandated by state law as new 911 systems are implemented throughout the state. When people used land lines, the system could pinpoint an address. That's not the case with the new system and with the majority of people using cellphones.
If any new address is assigned to a new business or residence, OEM needs to know that exact location. If a business changes names, that would also help the office direct officials if an emergency occurs at that site. "Mayors or someone in these towns can just send us a list by email in a document or spreadsheet so that we will have it," Blevins said. She said that addresses don't just affect first responders. During the last election, she added, a man went to a polling site to vote. His street address was not listed in any file, although the street had been created in the county a year ago. It was never documented. Because of this, the man could not vote in his correct precinct.
Blevins recommended that cities go back five years and examine files for new addresses, and preferably parcel numbers, to make sure they are in the 911 system. "We don't have to have the person's name but we would like to have a business' name," she said. Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson recommended that mayoral offices generate a monthly report and send to Blevins. Blevins also raised concerns about the county's emergency siren system. She asked that municipalities attempt to start maintaining their own systems. Robinson agreed with her.
"It's becoming increasingly difficult for us to make these repairs," he said. While those in Pine Bluff and White Hall are maintained by the cities, sirens in rural parts of the county are not. Blevins cited declining revenue as one problem. Another problem is that the county does not have a contract with the system's maintenance company, SafeCom, based in North Little Rock. "We are not a priority with them because we don't have a contract," Blevins said. "We just have to be on a waiting list." Blevins said she called SafetyCom three weeks ago but the county remains on the waiting list. Robinson suggested that the county look into signing a contract with the company. "It may be more advantageous for us to develop a contact and share the cost," Robinson said. Jefferson County once had its own siren technician but that position has been cut. The current siren system, which alerts residents to severe weather and other emergencies, is the original one from the 1970s.
Some association members suggested that the sirens were an outdated form of notification because people receive alerts on cell phones. Robinson said that many elderly people and those in rural areas may not get alerts or check their phones. Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington said it was time for the city to look at new emergency technology instead of waiting to repair the older sirens. "We need to explore advancing technology before everything goes down," Washington said. Robinson agreed. "At the county level, I'm looking to become more automated," he said. "People don't like to hear it but that's the way it's becoming and we've got to move forward."