Some people in the town of Westport got a special phone call from the Sheriff's Department Wednesday morning.
The automated message was the first use of Dane County's reverse 911 system. Eleven-hundred people in the town of Westport were reminded to lock their vehicles and homes due to some recent thefts in that area.
Elise Schaffer, a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Department says the reverse 911 system is the most efficient way to notify small groups of people about events in their neighborhood. "It literally took us about five- minute to go down there this morning, do the recording, pinpoint our area, send it out. It was very simple and just a great resource to have."
Schaffer says the system will even print out a report letting them know how many people received the call and how many hung up.
The Sheriff's Department is still working out a policy on when they will use the reverse 911 system. Currently, it's done on a case by case basis.
Westport Gets First Reverse 911 Call
