FAQ's
Who decided to send out the call?
Your local public safety officials contacted the Plymouth
County Sheriff’s Department and its Communicator professionals
to request a call be placed on their behalf.
How do you have my number? I’ve
registered with the Do Not Call List.
The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department received a
Homeland Security grant to purchase 911 numbers from Verizon;
the purchase includes published and unpublished telephone
landline numbers. Verizon provides updates to the Sheriff’s
Department on a quarterly basis.
I don’t have a landline; may
I register a mobile phone?
Yes, if you’ve abandoned your landline for a mobile
phone you may register a mobile number with the Plymouth County
Sheriff’s Department. In order to assure you only receive
message relevant to your residence, we require you associate
that mobile number with a street address. An online form and
mail-in form is available on the Sheriff’s Department
website www.pcsdma.org, select Community Programs then Communicator.
See below.
What if I’m not home, will
there be a message waiting for me?
The Communicator system will leave a message on your answering
machine or a voicemail if you are not able to pick up the
call.
Why wasn’t I notified sooner?
The Communicator system is one of the many tools public safety
officials can utilize to properly handle an incident or emergency.
We don’t expect the decision to prepare a script for
the Communicator to come before traditional police work. Calls
are placed in real time at a rate of 1,000 calls every 15
minutes.
My neighbors and I received the call,
but my friend across town didn’t, why?
Often times the contents of a Communicator call only concern
residents of a particular neighborhood or section of town.
The call area selected is a determination made by your local
officials and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department
upon the urgency and significance of the call.
How will I know when the situation
is over? Will you call me again?
Many scheduled informational Communicator calls come with
an end time; other calls are urgent in nature and lack a foreseen
resolution. Local officials and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s
Department will determine based on real-time decisions whether
the severity of the incident, coverage/lack of coverage by
the media and time of day to decide or not to send a follow-up
call.
Caller ID said the Sheriff’s
office was calling, but there was silence on the other end
of the line.There are limits to all technologies.
We have received infrequent reports of a delay from the time
the receiver is picked up to the time the recording begins.
If you see the Sheriff’s Office on your caller ID, please
stay on the line a few seconds longer to assure you receive
the Communicator message.
I am a member of the public and have additional questions;
to whom shall I direct my concerns about the Communicator
system? Please contact the Field Services Division
of the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department and its
Director James Muscato at 508-830-6230 or jmuscato@pcsdma.org.
FAQ’s FROM THE
MEDIA
A review/reader/listener called the
station and said you called about an incident? Local
public safety officials may have requested the assistance
of the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department and its
Communicator system to contact your viewer/reader/listener
and other area residents.
