At the Village of Malverne’s monthly board of trustees meeting on Feb. 4 Deputy Mayor Scott Edwards encouraged village residents to sign up for the new Rave system, Malverne Alerts. This system was designed in partnership with Malverne’s Chief of Police Tom Martini.
“Rave is an emergency notification system that the village subscribes to,” Edwards said. “The service allows us to send out messages to any residents that have publicly listed phone numbers or that have opted in to receive these emergency notification system.”
Rave Alert is a Motorola Solutions owned service that the village subscribes to, which allows village officials to send critical, real-time alerts to people during emergencies over text, email, and calls.
“These notifications are typically either weather, security or infrastructure based,” Edwards said. “For example we recently sent a message regarding the utility work that’s going on along Hempstead Avenue by Liberty Water and National Grid. We’ve also had some snow events this winter, so we sent out alerts regarding the snow, making sure vehicles are parked off the street and the curb line is cleared so we can plow properly and safely.”
The various options on the system to inform residents about emergencies was important to Edwards and Martini, as community members have different preferences for information delivery.
“A lot of people don’t get their information from social media,” Martini said, referring to some of the elderly residents without social media access. “So rather then relying on Facebook and stuff like that, we’re looking to streamline the information process in regards to emergencies.
“So any type of snow or emergency you can think of, where we want to get information out to the public,” he continued, “that’s what we’re using this application for.”
The Rave Alert platform also allows residents to subscribe to other local alerts, such as Nassau County and Town of Hempstead.
Malverne previously had an alert system known as Swift Reach before adopting Malverne Alerts. Residents who registered for Swift Reach were transferred to the new platform but Edwards encouraged residents to still register for Malverne Alerts, updating information, preferences, and ensuring you’re informed on local emergencies.
“It would be good for people if they had signed up in the past to go back and either update or re-register,” Edwards said. “Provide as much information as you want to provide, cell phone numbers, home phone, emails, so we make sure they get contacted in case of emergencies.”
To register for Malverne Alerts, visit the village website at www.malvernevillage.org and opt to “subscribe to village alerts” on the home page. Once you enter your information and consent to receive messages, you’re subscribed.
“We pride ourselves on doing the best we can to get the word out to our residents,” Edwards said.
