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Code Red System Would Repeat Garner Prison Warnings

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Code Red System Would Repeat Garner Prison Warnings

By Andrew Gorosko

In the event of a prison emergency at the state’s high-security Garner Correctional Institution on Nunnawauk Road, the prison’s emergency notification system would make recorded, automated telephone calls to people on a call list who want to be alerted of prison emergencies as they are occurring.

Such Garner emergencies could include prison fires, prisoner riots, prisoner escapes, and the evacuation of prisoners from Garner for problems such as natural gas leaks.

Now that the town has acquired the Code Red high-speed telephone emergency notification system to alert the general public of various local emergencies, it would use the Code Red system to repeat the information that is provided by the Garner notification system in the event of a prison emergency.

The Garner emergency notification system went into operation more than a year ago. Its several dozen users receive a monthly test call to ensure that the system is in working order.

The town’s Code Red system went into operation in early March. That system is designed to provide emergency telephone notification to people in the entire town or sections of town, depending upon the nature and extent of a given emergency. Emergencies could include situations such as road closures, natural gas leaks, major fires, major motor vehicle accidents, hazardous material spills, flooding, missing children, and certain school-related matters.

The town’s Code Red system is a flexible tool that could easily be used to repeat any messages that are sent to users of the Garner emergency notification system, First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal told members of the Public Safety Committee for Garner Correctional Institution at a March 27 session. The panel meets quarterly to address public safety issues posed by the presence of Garner at 50 Nunnawauk Road.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe said that if Garner transmits a telephone-based emergency message to its notification system’s users, the town would then provide a similar message on its Code Red system.

The Code Red system would be used to make automated, recorded telephone calls to the geographical area near Garner, or to broader geographical areas, as needed, he said.

Using its Code Red system, the town would always repeat the messages transmitted on Garner’s warning system, Chief Kehoe said.

Mr Rosenthal said that all local residents should ensure that their telephone numbers are included in the Code Red system’s telephone number database. That database contains approximately 9,000 local telephone numbers.

Mr Rosenthal urges that all residents and businesses log onto the Town of Newtown’s website on the Internet at www.newtown-ct.gov and follow the hyperlink located there to the “Code Red residential and business data collection page.”

People who should definitely check that their telephone number is in the database are those who have unlisted telephone numbers, who have changed their telephone number or address within the last year, or those who use a cellular telephone as their primary home telephone. Business owners are also urged to check the database.

People who do not have Internet access may call the town emergency management office at 270-4370, Mondays through Fridays, from 8 am to 4:30 pm, to provide their information via telephone. Queries about the notification system also should be directed to that telephone number.

The town’s initial participation in the Code Red system is being covered by a $10,000 US Department of Homeland Security grant. Ensuing years of participation, at $5,000 annually, would be covered by the town.

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