Communities should be responsible and take pleasure in protecting themselves, their collective property, and their community. Most of this can be achieved simply by remaining alert and by knowing your neighbors, their habits, and who their friends are; this allows community members to get to know each other and easily identify potential threats. Unfortunately, crime and emergencies happens and when it does, it is imperative that it is reported to the correct emergency communication agency. Below is a list of emergency communication agencies.

Santa Cruz Consolidated Emergency Communications Center  

The Santa Cruz Consolidated Emergency Communications Center is located at 495 Upper Park Road in Santa Cruz and is responsible for handling the 911 traffic in Santa Cruz County. The center is responsible for dispatching police, fire, and medical to citizens who request their services. If a community or community member feels that there is an immediate threat to life, community, or property, citizens should dial 911. The agency’s motto is “serving as the vital link between the public and public safety organizations through responsiveness and technical excellence while in partnership with its Users and employees." Their website is http://www.scr911.org/. If you are on the campus of UCSC, dialing 911 will connect you to UCSC dispatchers at the UC Police Emergency Response Center. The following link will connect you to their dispatch center and provide a list of vital resources and telephone numbers http://police.ucsc.edu/services/dispatch.html

Pulse Point

In addition to its dispatching center, Santa Cruz County participates in Pulse Point. This is a mobile app that users download to their mobile device. When a cardiac event happens, the Santa Cruz Communications Center will send a notice out to users of the app, who are CPR certified, and give them the location where the cardiac event is happening. Their website is www.pulsepoint.org. Attached is a link to the American Red Cross where the user can research CPR certification courses in the area http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/program-highlights/cpr-first-aid.      

In addition to these resources, many law enforcement and emergency communications agencies participate in social media which allows community members to keep updated with current events and recent crimes and locations of crimes.

https://twitter.com/santacruzpolice - Santa Cruz Police Twitter

https://twitter.com/UCSCPolice - UC Santa Cruz Police Twitter

Contributed by Austin Schneider