Mount Pleasant residents encouraged to add cell phone numbers to database

The Post & Courier

Wednesday, February 3rd
The Mount Pleasant Police Department wants to improve its ability to send emergency phone notifications to residents by adding unlisted and cellular telephone numbers to its database, according to a press statement issued today.

Since 2002, the town has been using CityWatch, an automated notification system, to disseminate evacuation information and to solicit assistance in locating missing children. It’s also used to notify residents when a suspect is targeting a particular neighborhood.

CityWatch can make simultaneous calls to households within the town. Police can record messages about specific situations and include instructions on what people should do. Once an area is selected for calling, the system automatically dials all published numbers within the selected area and delivers the message.

Because the system relies on publicly available telephone number databases, private numbers and cellular numbers do not generally receive the important information. With a number of residents abandoning the use of wired telephones in favor of cell phones, there is a large segment of the population that won’t receive the important notifications.

Those Mount Pleasant residents who want to include their unlisted or cellular telephone numbers in the system should contact police Capt. Amy McCarthy at 843-884-4176, or by e-mail at McCarthy@townofmountpleasant.com.