Mobile device users in Pickens and Oconee counties can now know when an active shooter situation is in progress.Through the ‘Digital Siren App,’ launched at the end of 2021, app users will receive push notifications once a specific type of call is made to at 911 call center. This includes any type of active shooter calls.”A dispatcher, when they receive a 911 call that there’s an active shooter at a certain location, they can immediately within just a matter of two or three seconds alert the public,” PursuitAlert ‘Digital Siren ‘ Co-Founder/CEO Tim Morgan said. The push notifications include an attention-grabbing sound alert followed by a voice message. Pickens and Oconee counties are the only two counties in South Carolina where the dispatch call centers have the capability to send out these alerts.Tim Morgan was formerly the Pickens County Deputy Sheriff for several years.He said during his time with the sheriff’s office, there was a lack of digital technology.“People want that critical information to protect their families, especially in today’s environment and the technology is there to do that,” Morgan said. “Real time critical information is what everybody wants.”The alerts notify the user of not only an active situation, but the exact location where t he incident is happening, as well as a radius for how far away the incident is from the user. Morgan mentioned an active shooter situation in Odessa, Texas back in 2019, stating an alert system could’ve given people a better chance to find a different route for survival.”In Odessa, Texas there was a moving shooter that was moving down the highway 20 or so miles,” Morgan said. “It would’ve been nice had those people on the highway known they were entering an area that was extremely dangerous, where an active shooter was shooting people.” The app also utilizes alerts such as active pursuits, hazmat spills, wrong way or impaired driver, plus many other options. Dispatches also have the option to create new alerts at any time. Morgan said he plans to have meetings with lawmakers next week to discuss Morgan said in the near future, he believes an app won’t be necessary, so the public will receive the alerts regardless of having the app.
Mobile device users in Pickens and Oconee counties can now know when an active shooter situation is in progress.
Through the ‘Digital Siren App,’ launched at the end of 2021, app users will receive push notifications once a specific type of call is made to a 911 call center. This includes any type of active shooter calls.
“A dispatcher, when they receive a 911 call that there’s an active shooter at a certain location, they can immediately within just a matter of two or three seconds alert the public,” PursuitAlert ‘Digital Siren’ Co-Founder/CEO Tim Morgan said .
The push notifications include an attention-grabbing sound alert followed by a voice message.
Pickens and Oconee counties are the only two counties in South Carolina where the dispatch call centers have the capability to send out these alerts.
Tim Morgan was formerly the Pickens County Deputy Sheriff for several years. He said during his time with the sheriff’s office, there was a lack of digital technology.
“People want that critical information to protect their families, especially in today’s environment and the technology is there to do that,” Morgan said. “Real time critical information is what everybody wants.”
The alerts notify the user of not only an active situation, but the exact location where the incident is happening, as well as a radius for how far away the incident is from the user.
Morgan mentioned an active shooter situation in Odessa, Texas back in 2019, stating an alert system could’ve given people a better chance to find a different route for survival.
“In Odessa, Texas there was a moving shooter that was moving down the highway 20 or so miles,” Morgan said. “It would’ve been nice had those people on the highway known they were entering an area that was extremely dangerous, where an active shooter was shooting people.”
The app also utilizes alerts such as active pursuits, hazmat spills, wrong way or impaired driver, plus many other options. Dispatches also have the option to create new alerts at any time.
Morgan said he plans to have meetings with lawmakers next week to discuss future possibilities of implementing the alert system nationwide. Morgan said in the near future, he believes an app won’t be necessary, so the public will receive the alerts regardless of having the app.
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