(Lawrenceville, Ga., Dec. 16, 2024) – Gwinnett County Police Communications implements new reverse 911 notification system. 

Gwinnett County Police Communications recently sent out a reverse 911 on December 12 in reference to a missing six-year-old boy.  The audio message was intended to be sent to phones near the location of the missing child.  An incorrect filter was selected, and the message was sent to people who were outside of the intended location. 

The reverse 911 was sent as an audio message through a phone call.  No text message was sent out by 911 dispatch.  The system leaves the audio message on a voicemail if the call is not answered, which resulted in the transcription being provided to customers with grammatical errors. 

Cell phone service providers often transcribe voicemails and send them as text messages back to the customer.  These cell service providers transcribe voicemails improperly which causes spelling errors, grammatical errors and even transcribing incorrect words.

When the reverse 911 was sent out, service providers often label the call as “scam likely”.  This is because the reverse 911 is an automated system that calls many phone numbers in a very short period.  That causes service providers to flag the call as a possible scam. 

If residents receive one of these messages and believe they have relevant information to provide to the police, they can call the police department’s non-emergency line to verify its authenticity.