Presidential Inauguration Security Detail Uses Emergency Text Messaging System

  • Jan 20, 2009

With more than 2 million people expected to attend the historic swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama, 58 law enforcement agencies in the District of Columbia and surrounding jurisdictions will rely on Alert DC, an interoperable emergency text messaging system provided by Cooper Notification, to coordinate the largest security and safety operation for a presidential inauguration in the nation’s history.

Powered by Cooper Notification’s patented Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN), the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) and their counterparts in surrounding counties and cities will be able to efficiently respond to threats by sending text messages to coordinate security and emergency efforts among the different law enforcement agencies, including the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, and the military or targeted groups such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Law enforcement personnel can reply to alerts through RSAN’s two-way communications system.

Alert DC was launched in 2002 to quickly mobilize first responders and key personnel.

“What better way to communicate to all of the different agencies during the largest security operation than with an interoperable system that has been reliable and effective for DC HSEMA and the MPD for more than five years,” said Ratna Reddi, vice president of marketing and business development for Cooper Notification.

To create a safer and more secure environment for the Presidential Inauguration, Alert DC will also allow officials to communicate emergency information to the public via text messages during the four-day ceremony at the nation’s capitol, where more than 70 inaugural events took place from Sunday to Tuesday.

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