Anna Graves
News Editor
TJC police officers are anticipating the arrival of a news 911 system that will be installed on campus at the end of this month of October 2017. Before, when students made a phone call to 911 from TJC, their call was directed to the Tyler Police Department, instead of campus police. This caused delay in information as well as the response time for an officer to arrive at a situation.
Randy Melton, chief of police, explained that this new system has been in the work for quite some time between the school, and the Smith County District. “We started a year ago, last fall, we worked with the district, we applied for this piece of equipment. It went before the board of directors, and they approved the purchase and the installation if this equipment at no cost to the college. What it is, is a terminal, which means we can see all the information coming in on the 911 calls that the primary terminals sees. This is called a secondary public safety answering point or PSAP”.
A faster flow of information means a faster response, which allows for emergency situations to be resolved faster and safer. This system not only helps the students and officers on campus, but will also benefit anyone who comes onto TJC grounds. it is to better serve the community as a whole.
