Reverse 911 Call?
 

We received a call last evening from the Sumter Co. Emergency number about a 12-year old autistic boy who was missing from his home on CR204 (wherever that is), along with his description. They left instructions to call the sheriff's office if we saw or found him. Then again, at 4:15 this morning, they called to say he had been found safe and was home. Anyone else get this call?

Yes we received the first telephone message somewhere around 10:15 pm. informing us of the missing child.
Thankfully we did not receive the second one in the am like you did. I think if we start receiving these type of calls in the middle of the night we will probably remove our number from notifications.

Delighted to hear of the calls you received. It means reverse 911 is working.

BTW, CR204 goes east to west off US 301 just north of Oxford. Just north of that big nursery on the west side of 301. I note you live in Summerhill. The authorities probably drew a circle of possible locations and that circle included Summerhill.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

BTW again, I would be happy to receive an early morning call if it meant it could help someone in distress.

I got it too-about 10:ish--the call saying he was missing. I did not get the follow-up call about his being found. I live in Village of Belvedere which is Sumter County.

I agree 100% that helping someone is a priority and that is one of the reasons we requested to be added to the notification phone calls. I guess I should explain that I don't feel a call in the middle of the night to say the young boy was located was necessary. Since you sound like your someone in authority I would like to suggest you rethink the process. A telephone call in the middle of the night, in my opinion, a persons first thought would be a family member is in distress. Reverse 911 is an excellent idea but might need some tweeking. Of course, I am a lay person and not in law enforcement so I will defer to the experts.

reverse 911
 

So the people that get the calls in the middle of the night don't want to get calls. So if another tornado comes at 2:00 in the morning you dont want to know? Is one call in the middle of the night such a problem? Couldn't you sleep another half hour to 11:00 am?

With all due respect a Tornado and a missing child are two different things.

Misconception (I think)
 

Please understand. I was not upset about the 4 a.m. call....just a little surprised that they called back and I was very glad to hear that the child was found ok. I just never expected that they would call back, period. Besides, you can "take a break", go back to bed all comfortable and sleep until whenever time you need or want to get up. I don't remember signing up, but obviously I did. Kinda neat.

melz
 

With all due respect, what is the difference. depends if it's your child or a tornado hitting you?

What's up with the sarcasm? To each their own!

If you can't figure it out for yourself..............

To Call Or Not To Call, There Are Options
 

The sheriff''s department initiates a reverse 911 call regarding a missing child, parent, or grandparent at a late hour. Some people are going to get out of bed and check out their neighborhood and outbuildings. Others are going to worry about the outcome.
Two hours later the subject is found. Sheriff''s department may feel obligated to let those folks know.
For those who object to this system can opt out and rely on a weather alert radio. That system has been refined so it works great.

Using Reverse 911 at any hour of the day or night to broadcast a time-critical announcement (e.g. tornado warning, amber alert for missing child, etc) makes sense.

I'm not sure it's necessary to broadcast the 'child found' at off hours. They could have waited til after 8am or before 10pm to send out this call. But, no matter which route they took, some will be happy and some will be unhappy.