Mahwah PD Has New Way To Call, Text And Email Residents

The Mahwah Police Department has switched to a new emergency communication system which Captain Robert Sinnaeve said is an improvement of the former reverse 911 service it was using.

The SwiftReach Networks system is “much more flexible and will allow us to reach residents via phone, email, or text messaging,” Sinnaeve said.

“We have looked at a lot of different community notification systems and Swift Reach is by far the best.”

The MPD said in a release Saturday that the new Swift911 system can call either the entire township, or just specific affected areas to notify residents about a myriad of urgent information.

“The system can make thousands of calls in a minute to convey vital information. These messages may include information on floods, fires, water emergencies, road closures, missing persons, evacuation orders, and weather emergencies,” it said.

The police department is asking residents to update and/or provide additional contact information that the new system can use.

Residents can visit www.mahwahpd.org, click on Swift911, and enter their current home and cell phone numbers, as well as request to be texted and/or emailed in the event of an emergency situation.

The system only has listed phone numbers automatically loaded into it, so the PD is urging residents and business owners in the township to update their contact information via the PD’s website.

A call from the new system, which can also be made by other township departments in addition to the police, will come across on your Caller ID as “Township of Mahwah.”

Phone numbers will not be given out to other agencies, police said.