Losing The Message In Upper Saddle River

Early in the mayor and council meeting on September 18, with many police officers in the room to witness the swearing in of a new Upper Saddle River officer a cellphone alarm went off, rapidly followed by others in the room. Officers and public were distracted and attention was taken from conversations while phones were checked. It was the Amber Alert warning system following the abduction of a young girl in another part of the state.

Five years old, led from a park. Male wearing orange sneakers, thought to be driving a red van with sliding doors.

Everyone knew what it was, and most people stopped and read their phones, gave due regard to the situation. Respected the information that the message contained. Many of the police officers didn’t have to look as they already knew, the abduction had taken place 2 days earlier. But the issuing of an Amber Alert gave the event the importance it needed, it clarified the missing child wasn’t in the care of extended family, and search efforts were in place. In the attempt to resolve a desperate situation.

This week a Swift 911 arrived (October 7) and little attention was paid to it, just another communication from the town. The mayor’s newsletter or some other municipal detail. An update about a Stop Work order, or  maybe road closing. Oktoberfest. No need to pay attention to it until later. Or maybe never.

This particular message was about the health of the town’s finances and what has recently transpired. Basically justifying recent events and the efforts to contain them, and do damage control. Keep the residents on top of what was going on. Except this one was different. With an election coming it was a thinly veiled recovery to assure voters that the mayor and her team are finally getting to grips on outstanding issues. Just in time for the election.

And it was sent via Swift 911. The emergency system for communications. And as in other months in at least one household the message was disregarded for reading at a later time. The purpose and intent of the emergency system was hijacked and used as a standard, communication tool. Not just for town information, but for subtle campaigning. So if the police chief was actually sending out a message that residents needed to stay inside as there was a dangerous situation, it would be lost on some. So the dangerous tree, dangling electrical cable, shooter, suspicious van would be ignored. Your child could go out to play and you just might not know what dangers lurk.

And why? Some residents have complained about this for years. It’s not like the administration doesn’t know. But these complaints are most likely disregarded as just the usual nay sayers. The enemy residents. Except that it is more than that. The use of the Swift 911 system for regular communications has normalized the practice. The urgency of it has gone. The system now is pointless. Why can’t the town use a regular email and text messaging system, like SMS, for communiques of a standard nature and leave Swift 911 for urgent and emergency communications? To keep residents safe and informed. Be like other municipalities and get the correct technology and use it, there are plenty, just google them.

Maybe they are technology challenged. Like live streaming town meetings. Or turning on the microphones at the meetings so everyone can be heard.

And not abuse a system that was created for emergencies. Like the Amber Alert.

So everyone actually pays attention. Notes the details and is kept safe. Give the communication the focus it deserves.

And the little girl, Dulce Alavez,  is still missing.