City Debuts E-Mail 911 Service

Yet another city has taken singular action to embrace the Internet by creating a “911” e-mail address and announcing they are accepting emergency electronic messages instead of dialing 911 on their telephone. City officials in Redlands (Calif.) said they still prefer citizens to use the telephone when reporting emergencies, but said the new service was for when, “someone is in a situation where they can’t call.” They also acknowledged that an e-mail message is not interactive and can’t pinpoint the sender’s location. According to a city spokesperson, when an e-mail addressed to 911@redlandspolice.org arrives, “alarm bells” sound and a dispatcher will read the e-mail and take appropriate action. City officials didn’t mention that the Internet provides no routing or receipt confirmation to the sender. Police Cmdr. Tom Fitzmaurice said it didn’t cost anything to set up the special address, and that the department has several other addresses for specific problems, including graffiti, blight and crime tips. Last month Blackhawk County (Iowa) became the first comm center to accept emergency text messages.