By Kathy Adams, The Virginian-Pilot
Original publication date: April 28, 2011

Virginia Beach, Va. — When a gunman opened fire at an apartment building in Thalia in March 2008, killing or injuring five people, the city sent an automated message to neighborhood residents warning them to stay inside.

The message, though, didn’t go out by cellphone or e-mail. VBAlert, Virginia Beach’s reverse 911 system, only calls land-line phones at registered homes and businesses.

The city is looking to do something about that.

The Communications and Information Technology Department is set to receive $435,859 in City Manager Jim Spore’s proposed budget to replace VBAlert, which launched in 2005. The new system will send alerts via additional channels, such as text messaging, cellphones and email.

“With our mobile society, it’s very important. If you have something going on in your neighborhood and you’re not home, you would like to have that information,” said Lori Stiles, operations manager for Emergency Communications & Citizens Services, which oversees the 911 center. “More and more of the public are going away from land lines.”

City Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson said she’s seen systems like the one proposed for Virginia Beach in action. When deadly tornados recently tore through North Carolina, her relatives who live in the area where the storms struck were notified on their cellphones, even though they were out of town, she said.

“It was very helpful,” Wilson said.

The Fire Department uses VBAlert several times a year for situations such as natural gas leaks, said Battalion Chief Steve Lesinski, who handles emergency management and communications for the department. It’s also used for school closures, SWAT situations, storm alerts and other emergencies.

The new system is scheduled to be implemented by June 2012, according to city budget documents.

The City Council also will vote on whether to approve $362,700 in the upcoming budget year to begin upgrading the 911 center’s system for pinpointing callers’ locations. The upgrade will help dispatchers receive “more accurate, more detailed and timelier information,” and whether a land line or cellphone is being used, according to budget documents.

That’s important for callers, including tourists, who aren’t always sure where they are when they find themselves in an emergency, Stiles said.

“The bottom line is, it provides more information to our first responders,” said Councilman Bill DeSteph. “It’s very difficult if you’re in the Pungo area or the Blackwater section of Virginia Beach and you end up over in a ditch. It’s very difficult to see you from the road.”

The upgraded system would make it easier for firefighters, medics and police to find you, he said.

The upgrade also would prepare the 911 center to eventually receive emergency information via text message, video and other means, according to the budget documents. The upgrade will cost a total of $2 million and is scheduled for implementation by the end of 2014.

“Health, safety and welfare is the No. 1 goal of the city,” Wilson said. “And these are critical to ensure that we have that.”

About the Author
Contact Kathy Adams at (757) 222-5155, [email protected].

Copyright © 2011 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy