New Service Allows Residents of 18 Wayne County Communities to Text Police

Police in 18 different Wayne County communities can now be reached by text message, instead of having to cal 911.

The service is part of the new "Call if you can, text if you can't" program and is available to the communities of the Conference of Western Wayne, reported the Press & Guide. The new technology has been a year in the making.

"Our 18 communities did something you don't hear much about these days—we worked together to benefit everyone,” Westland Mayor Bill Wild told the Press & Guid. “We work tirelessly to grow Western Wayne County and provide our citizens with the best services possible.

The service can be used by anyone who has a texting plan with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon by sending a text message to 911. As long as you are in the vicinity of one of the 18 communities in the Conference of Western Wayne, the text will be sent to the nearest dispatch center, reported the Press & Guide.

The texting service will be most useful in situations in which making a call to 911 could jeopardize the safety of a caller, such as a home invasion or abduction, reported the Press & Guide. The service will also aid people who have trouble communicating over the phone due to disability.

Here's a list of the 18 communities getting the new service:

• Belleville
• Canton Township
• Dearborn
• Dearborn Heights
• Garden City
• Huron Township
• Inkster
• Livonia
• Northville
• Northville Township
• Plymouth
• Plymouth Township
• Redford Township
• Romulus
• Sumpter Township
• Van Buren Township
• Wayne
• Westland