LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department's chief this week got the go ahead from the city council to improve the agency's emergency notification system.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen went to the council on Tuesday with the request to upgrade his department's Nixle account in an effort to reach more people in the case of emergency situations.

Nixle is a communication platform used by law enforcement and other public agencies to issue public service announcements and alerts.

The Lakeport Police Department has been using the service as its primary emergency alert system for the last four years, according to the written report to the council on the request completed by Lt. Jason Ferguson. The Lake County Sheriff's Office also has been using the system for about that length of time.

Rasmussen said his department has been using the most basic level Nixle offers. That service costs $1,750 annually.

He asked the council to upgrade to the Nixle 360 system, which would allow police to integrate an emergency telephone notification system to contact the approximately 4,722 hard line telephone numbers in the city limits as well as all cell phones registered by individuals to receive Nixle alerts.

Rasmussen said the Lakeport Police Department currently has to ask to use the Lake County Sheriff's Office emergency call system in case of emergencies.

“That's not something I want to rely on,” said Rasmussen, as there is no guarantee that his department could use that system when needed.

Rasmussen said there is an additional cost of $238.78 per use to make the emergency telephone calls through AT&T. He suggested going with that cost per use rather than an ongoing $131 monthly charge, anticipating the call service would not be used often enough to justify that increased cost.

Rasmussen said the upgraded Nixle account also will allow them to integrate the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Integrated Public Alert and Warning system, or IPAWS, which sends emergency alerts to all persons within a specified geographic area, he said.

There is no cost to use the IPAWS program through FEMA, but Rasmussen said there is the need for software to run it, which Nixle will do.

He said the department already has been preapproved for an IPAWS account, but they will need to do a memorandum of understanding and take some tests to get certified to use it, because there are specific parameters on what situations in which it can be used.

In addition, if the Lakeport Police Department needed to use the IPAWS system and a telephone notification system in an extreme emergency, Rasmussen said it would not only go to all of the city's landlines and cell phones registered with Nixle, but it also would send emergency alerts to anyone with a smartphone who has not already signed up for the Nixle program, as long as the emergency notification settings on the phone are enabled.

Another benefit of upgrading is that the new system would allow people to reply to certain police announcements – such as one sent out last week seeking information on a man wanted for an armed robbery and burglary – with tips and leads, Rasmussen said.

“The biggest benefit is, we have one program that's easy to use that will get every notification system if that's necessary,” he said.

Rasmussen said he didn't budget for the upgraded system, but anticipates his department will have savings at the end of the year that will cover it. He said he planned to include it in the upcoming fiscal year budget.

The anticipated cost of the upgrade, Rasmussen said, is approximately $1,530.78 for the remainder of the year, adding there will be an 3-percent increase written into each year's contract if the city continue using the service.

Councilman Marc Spillman asked if the emergency system upgrades went along with plans by local fire officials to begin using sirens once again for emergency notifications.

Rasmussen said the siren issue has been discussed among local agencies, but indicated his effort is separate.

“I've been wanting to do this for some time,” said Rasmussen, who added that with storms coming, “I'd rather have the maximum level of notification possible.”

Mayor Martin Scheel said he thought the system was a great asset and tool.

The council approved the request 5-0.

To sign up for Nixle, visit https://local.nixle.com/register/ and register for an account. After signing up, settings can be adjusted to specify which agencies will send messages through home and cell phones, or both.

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