The city of Chadron is making a renewed push for residents to sign up for the Code Red emergency phone alert system.
It’s the result of a Nov 30 incident in which the search for 2 possibly armed fugitives from South Dakota led to a lockout at the Chadron Public Schools.
Downtown businesswoman Candace Connery-Nolette raised concerns in the aftermath of the incident, which saw both suspects arrested without incident.
Connery Nolette said she appreciated the work of law enforcement in the case, but that businesses and residents without school children weren’t alerted with one business owner discovering later that the suspects had been in their establishment.
She asked that the city craft a policy clarifying who is contacted and when during all emergency situations, a request Mayor Mark Werner agreed should be explored.
Police Chief Rick Hickstein says the after-action review of the incident and comments by Connery Nolette and others made it clear better communication is needed with Code Red the best way to do that.
Hickstein says the problem is that for Code Red to work to the full extent, all residents need to be signed up and that’s something they have to do for themselves.
To signup for Code Red on the Chadron city website www.chadron-nebraska.com/437/Code-Red-Alerts
To sign up for Code Red at it own website public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/20DA2FD5CE20Â