How will you know whether you have signed up for Lawrence Township’s CodeRED reverse 911 emergency notification system?
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
How will you know whether you have signed up for Lawrence Township’s CodeRED reverse 911 emergency notification system?
Sit by the telephone or cell phone Monday at 10 a.m. That’s when Lawrence Township officials will conduct a performance test to find out how fast notifications can be delivered to the entire community, in case of an actual emergency.
Monday morning’s phone call — and all CodeRED emergency notification calls — will come from an “800” telephone number, so it is important for people to realize that fact and to accept the phone call. It should take less than 30 minutes to call all of the telephone and cell phone numbers in the system.
Lawrence Township has contracted with Emergency Communications Network LLC to license its CodeRED notification system, said Steven Groeger, the township’s superintendent of recreation. The system allows township officials to deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire township.
”Last week, there was no garbage or recycling pickup, and the Planning Board meeting was canceled (because of the snow),” Mr. Groeger said. But only residents who had signed up for the CodeRED reverse 911 system or for Constant Contact — the weekly email release from the township — would have known.
”If you want to get an emergency call — what the township deems an emergency, like township offices are closed or there is no garbage or recycling pickup or there is a rabid animal in the neighborhood — then you have to sign up for CodeRED,” Mr. Groeger said.
Systems such as CodeRED are only as good as the telephone number database supporting them, Mr. Groeger said, adding that no one should assume their telephone number is included in the system.
That’s why individuals and businesses should log onto the Lawrence Township website at www.lawrencetwp.com and follow the CodeRED link for community notification enrollment, between now and the Monday morning test, he said.
”If your number is not in the database, you will not be called. CodeRED was selected because it lets individuals and businesses enter their phone numbers directly into the system’s database, and that information is immediately available to township officials to contact in case of an emergency,” he said.
People who do not have access to a computer can still sign up for CodeRED by contacting the Lawrence Township Recreation Department at 609-844-7067 weekdays, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., to supply their information over the telephone.
The required information includes first and last name, street address — the physical street address, not a post office box — and the city, state and zip code, and the primary phone number and any additional phone numbers, such as cell phones, that people would like to have entered.
”People may want their cell phone numbers or other numbers in the system. The landline telephone number may be one they don’t use, or they want to add another number. Senior citizens may want their children to get the phone call, so they should add those numbers,” Mr. Groeger said.
All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the past year, and those who use a cell phone or VoIP phone as their primary number, he said. CodeRED also sends text messages and emails, so that information needs to be enrolled, too.
CodeRED allows geographically based delivery, which means street addresses are needed to ensure emergency notification calls are received by the proper individuals in the a given situation, Mr. Groeger said. Residents can be notified of a rabid animal within a 1.5-mile radius, he said.
Residents are encouraged to download the CodeRED Mobile Alert app to receive township emergency, general and missing person public safety alerts directly on their smartphones that are specific to the subscriber’s current location. It can be downloaded on iTunes, Google Play or by visiting http://ecnetwork.com/mobile/getitnow.html.
Questions should be directed to Mr. Groeger at 609-844-7067 Monday through Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

