Alert system proves effective after prisoner escape
January 15th, 2008http://www.gazette.net/stories/011008/laurnew132043_32355.shtml
The Wide Area Rapid Notification system, or W.A.R.N. made the calls within seven minutes after Kelvin Poke, a Jessup Correctional Institution inmate, wrested a gun from a correctional officer, then carjacked a vehicle during his escape bid this morning. Later in the day, police shot and killed Poke during an exchange of gunfire at the Washington National Cemetery in Suitland. Poke was serving a life sentence plus 40 years for kidnapping, robbery and carjacking. “Prior to WARN, we had to rely on media outlets and so forth, to tell residents and businesses of a crisis, said Vernon Herron, the county’s homeland security director. With WARN, in a matter of seven minutes we dialed 35,000 phone numbers. It’s really a helpful tool for manmade and natural disasters.” Herron said the Prince George’s Office of Homeland Security has a million listed and unlisted landline phone numbers in the WARN system, which was installed in 2002. “We sent a recorded message saying that a state prisoner had escaped from the Laurel Regional Hospital, then gave a description and told them to call us if they had any information,” he said. Another phone alert was sent out after Poke was caught. Residents and businesses do not have to sign up for WARN, Herron said. If they have a landline in the affected area, they will receive a call. This is the second time in recent weeks that WARN, which is also used by the federal Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been used in the county. An inmate being transported had escaped custody in Largo, Herron said. He said the decision to set up the system was made after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. “In light of our nation’s homeland security concerns, we needed a way to notify residents if there [was] an emergency,” Herron said.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
