DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The city of Dearborn Heights will soon be adopting an emergency alert system to help notify residents of emergencies.

The CodeRED Emergency Alert System will allow the city to have an opportunity for one-way communication from the Police and Fire Departments to the community.

“We can share emergency or community messages through phone calls, text and/or email,” Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jerrod Hart said. “There are two ways to receive notifications as CodeRED has purchased phone numbers from a third party and we will also have an opportunity for residents to opt-in and select the level of alerts they wish to receive. They can also select the language to receive the phone calls (text to voice), text and/or emails.”

The City Council approved the three-year contract with the CodeRED System by OnSolve for $9,850 per year, or $29,550 total for the three years.

Hart told The Arab American News that the city is working directly with the provider to build a community profile, which will also help provide different options for what types of notifications residents receive, including weather alerts, community events and emergency notifications.

“Public safety departments have used similar programs for 10 plus years to communicate with the public,” he said. “I have used them in other communities since 2008. Our goals are to enhance communication with our citizens in the event of an emergency, critical or quality of life issues which impact their daily life. The most common notification is for serious accidents which impact travel in a particular area or to notify residents of a police or fire presence.”

Hart said that the city will issue a press release once the program is ready to launch.

“The Dearborn Heights Police and Fire Departments are committed to sharing information about events which impact their lives through technology,” he said. “We will constantly monitor new and innovative ways to reach our community so they feel connected to our outstanding staff who work hard day and night to keep them safe. Once the system is operational, emergency alerts are not an invitation to show up to the scene of an incident. They are designed to inform you of a presence or situation, and seek compliance in avoiding an area. Managing critical situations becomes more complex when crowds gather; please respect our FD and PD staff by allowing us to focus on the situation at hand.”

More information on the system can be found on CodeRED’s website.