BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
Sea Bright SEA BRIGHT — Imagine if you could telephone all of the households in this small oceanside town within a three-minute window.
Sea Bright police now have that capability, and more importantly, a means of reaching out directly to residents, thanks to the borough’s new CodeRED emergency notification system that is now up and running, according to Councilwoman Dina Long.
Now, borough police are asking all residents who have not already done so to forward their names, physical addresses and telephone numbers to be placed in confidential files and programmed into the CodeRED system, Long announced at the Borough Council meeting on Aug. 2.
Whenever flood waters rise, as they do occasionally in the borough’s downtown residential streets, or if a state of emergency were declared during a snowstorm or other natural disaster, police can program the high-speed telephone system to call each household in the town, provided that their contact information is on file, Long explained.
This system can also be used by police to notify residents in cases of missing persons or any potentially hazardous situation, she noted.
“It’s to be used only for emergencies,” said Long, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee. “All information is confidential.”
At the recommendation of borough Police Chief William S. Moore, the governing body entered a $5,000 one-year contract to lease the CodeRED system from Emergency Communications Network Inc., of Ormond Beach, Fla., earlier this summer.
The system will be operated and maintained solely by the Sea Bright Police Department.
Though the police department has the contact information from residents who hold parking permits, Long encouraged other property owners in town to log on to the borough’s Web site, www.seabrightnj.org, so that they too can be notified when necessary.
Once on the Web site, users can click on the link to “CodeRED Residential and Business Data Collection” and enter their information and as many numbers as they choose, according to a press release issued by borough Police Chief William S. Moore.
All business owners should register on the system, as well as any individuals who have unlisted numbers, Moore stressed.
“If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called,” Moore said.
Those without Internet access can stop by the police station at 1099 Ocean Ave. and complete a form with their contact information, he added.
The CodeRED system can be programmed to contact the entire town or just a portion of the town, according to Long.
“[Police] can notify everyone in Sea Bright within three minutes,” she told the council.
Cellular telephones can be contacted as well, provided that the police department has a physical address for the recipient, Moore said.
“CodeRED is a geographical-based notification system, which means street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive emergency notification calls in any situation,” Moore said.
“The system works fine for cell phones, too, but we have to have a street address,” he continued. “You can register your home and cell phone to ensure you receive a call.”
The borough was due to mail out more information about CodeRED to property owners last week. Any other questions can be directed to borough police at (732) 842-0010 on Mondays through Fridays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.