Citizens urged to take advantage of CodeRed notification system

Posted 9/23/15

During the recent manhunt that began in Smith County and later entered into Wood County, Code Red proved to be a useful tool for authorities to quickly notify a large number of residents of the county of the dangers of unlocked doors and keys left in

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Citizens urged to take advantage of CodeRed notification system

Posted

During the recent manhunt that began in Smith County and later entered into Wood County, Code Red proved to be a useful tool for authorities to quickly notify a large number of residents of the county of the dangers of unlocked doors and keys left in unattended vehicles. Among those notified were schools and businesses as well as homes. Many residents of the county did not receive the emergency notification directly but learned of it instead from friends, family or neighbors. As a result, Wood County Sheriff Jim Brown has launched a campaign to inform the public about Code Red in an effort to ensure that every citizen of the county has the opportunity to be informed of emergency and non-emergency messages through the Code Red system.

Approximately five years ago

Wood County, and its incorporated cities, entered into an agreement with Emergency Communications Network, Inc. for the use of its CodeRed Emergency Notification system. This system utilizes land-line phones, cellular phones, e-mail and TXT messages to deliver notifications as quickly as possible to the citizens of Wood County.

The system relies on each person's physical address to know when to call. Once the system is activated, each person whose address is within the selected area will be notified. Wood County's Emergency Management Coordinator Charles West and Sheriff Brown caution citizens not to assume they are automatically registered with the system. To be registered, each resident's address and phone information must be loaded into the system. Previously, this was done by filling out the online registration at . During this campaign to increase public awareness of CodeRed, paper registration forms will be available at the Sheriff's Office and other county offices. Citizens can also request a form by calling either Charles West at 903-763-2356 or the Sheriff's Office at 903-763-2201, ext. 7341 or 7338. Completed forms should be mailed to:

Wood County Emergency Management Coordinator

Charles West

PO Box 938

Quitman, Texas 75783

Completed forms may also be dropped off at the Sheriff's Office at 402 S. Stephens Street in Quitman or West's office located in the courthouse on the square in downtown Quitman.