Officials on Long Island announced a new hotline Tuesday to help improve police response times to school emergencies.
As part of the SAVE (School Active Violence Emergency) hotline, schools in Suffolk County will now be equipped with phones programmed to automatically dial the county's police 911 center supervisor, instantly displaying the school's location and allowing for immediate verbal communication.
“We must do everything in our power to protect our children," said Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker, who helped launch the hotline in conjunction with the Suffolk County Police Department. "Time will be saved by providing a dedicated line for school emergencies."
The hotline is expected to expedite response times by bypassing the usual intermediate interview with an emergency complaint operator and initiating an immediate dispatch of the nearest available emergency responders.
The phones will be placed in various locations throughout the county's schools over the next few weeks.
