Sheriff's Department Expands Reverse 911® System

Santa Barbara- March 11th, 2010

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has upgraded its Reverse 911® system to make it even easier to alert residents during emergency situations.

Since 2005, the Sheriff’s Department has utilized the patented Reverse 911® system which has the capability to call virtually anyone with a landline phone in Santa Barbara County. Reverse 911® has proven to be a valuable tool when alerting residents when an emergency arises (i.e. wildfires, flooding, HazMat incidents).

During the Zaca Fire in 2007, the Sheriff’s Department added the ability for residents to register their cell phones. During the Gap Fire in 2008, more than 15,000 people signed up for Reverse 911® which proved to be a huge task for the Department which successfully entered the information for each registrant by hand.

With the new upgrades, residents can now easily register themselves by creating a password protected account which allows them to update or edit their own information. They will also be able to include their email address and request TTY messages for the hearing impaired. The Sheriff’s Reverse 911® system now also features an interactive map for users to verify their location.

Although the Reverse 911® system is a valuable tool, no technology is perfect. Therefore, during an emergency, the Sheriff’s Department urges the public to continue monitoring other public warning systems such as TV, radio, internet and other media.

To register, citizens can log on to sbsheriff.org and click on the Reverse 911® link. The information will not be shared for any other purpose.

For more information regarding news related issues
please contact Drew Sugars, Public Information Officer.

Business Hours: (805) 681-4100
EMAIL:pio@sbsheriff.org