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Police outline limits and reach of CT Alert, Atlas One and town notifications
Summary
Chief Perry and dispatch staff explained CT Alert (state-run Everbridge reverse-911) and Atlas One (town-paid app), described subscription numbers and geofencing limits, and warned that CT Alert should be reserved for imminent life‑safety incidents after the state flagged a prior tornado-watch posting.
Police Chief Perry and dispatcher Russ told the Newington Town Council how the town uses three channels — social media, the town’s Atlas One app and the state CT Alert (Everbridge) reverse-911 — and explained the limits residents should expect from each system.
“CT Alert is paid for by the state and they control it,” Chief Perry said. “For them it has to be emergency situations,” and he described a recent instance when the town posted a tornado watch to CT Alert and was told by state operators that a watch did not meet the system’s immediacy standard.
Chief Perry and the presenter demonstrated how CT Alert is tied to registration and geography: subscribers can register multiple devices and specific locations; if a resident does not sign up, CT Alert will not reach them. The presenters said CT Alert can reach roughly 45,000 registered devices in the region (including multiple devices per person), while Atlas One currently has roughly 1,600 subscribers for Newington and the town’s Facebook page has about 15,000 followers across pages that repost official messages.
They described operational choices: CT Alert is intended for imminent, life‑safety threats (gas leaks, evacuations, structure fires); Atlas One is a town-controlled, paid app suitable for local advisories such as shelter/warming-center notices, road closures or found‑person alerts. Chief Perry said dispatchers and incident commanders decide when reverse-911 activation is appropriate and that use policy is guided by Title 28 of the Connecticut General Statutes and Everbridge operator rules.
Councilors discussed outreach to seniors and residents without smartphones, duplication between systems, staff capacity to post and clear alerts during active incidents, and whether the town can increase Atlas One registrations through in-person sign-up opportunities at municipal counters. Chief Perry said the town can create an Atlas One account for the Emergency Management director and use it for weather-related information (warming shelters, cooling centers) while reserving CT Alert for the most urgent incidents.
The department plans outreach to encourage registration and to coordinate with the town manager’s office on geofenced notifications for local incidents. The council asked for a copy of the slides and follow-up materials to be distributed to members and the public.
