Central Marin Police Unveil Siren For Evacuation Alerts

SAN ANSELMO, CA — Law enforcement agencies across Marin County have a new way to alert residents to evacuate during an emergency.

The Central Marin Police Authority, which serves Corte Madera, Larkspur, San Anselmo and portions of Greenbrae, as well as the Mill Valley Police Department, Novato Police Department and Sausalito Police Department, announced their police cars have been equipped with a new Hi-Lo siren.

The Hi-Lo siren — a two-tone siren that makes a very distinctive and unfamiliar sound — will only be used for immediate evacuation notifications in a large area and during an extreme emergency, authorities said. In a small evacuation situation, or when more time is available, officers will continue to use the traditional door-to-door notification method.

"The Hi-Lo siren is one more way for us to notify residents during an extreme emergency in their neighborhood," said Margo Rohrbacher, a spokesperson for the Central Marin Police Authority.

The plan is for most of Marin's law enforcement agencies to have the Hi-Lo sirens available on their marked vehicles, according to Rohrbacher.

"We are following the lead of agencies in Sonoma and Napa that implemented this tool after the devastating fires in their counties," Rohrbacher said.

"We hope we will never need to use it, but the Hi-Lo siren means one thing only: Evacuate immediately. When you hear Hi-Lo, it's time to go."