Fan Out!

I had just gotten to sleep a couple of nights ago when, at about 10:30, the phone rang. I figured someone calling that late at night had to be important. My first thought was a family member in trouble. Most people know not to call that late unless it's an emergency. My adrenaline started pumping. I hobbled across the bedroom to the phone and picked it up expecting to hear at least a voice I recognized. Instead, it was a call from the local Police Department! Uh, oh...

It was a recorded message, but in a conversational tone, so it took me a few seconds to realize that it was recorded. The message went on to say (from what I can remember) that there was an elderly man who was missing. It gave a physical description of the man, and his last known location (a couple of streets over from our house), and asked us to check our yard and street looking for him. It was a kind of Amber Alert for Amber's grandpa.

From what I recall it was a missing man and not a suspected felon, but honestly I can't be sure. This was the first time we had gotten a call like that. It was kind of cool. You don't think about such high-tech tools being used by local governments. At least not in a way that most of us get to see (behind the scenes, even the sheriff in a one traffic light town has access to some pretty cool gadgets nowadays).

Having looked at the local PD's website in the last couple of months (designed in circa 1990), this bulk notification system surprised me even more. Way to go Good Guys!