Suffolk County, NY - December 13th, 2013 - With the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook School shooting approaching this weekend, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Edward Webber and Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker would like to remind the public and school officials of the existence of the School Active Violence Emergency (SAVE) Hotline.

The SAVE Hotline is a direct phone line placed in one or several locations throughout a school building programmed to automatically dial the Suffolk County Police 911 center supervisor. The supervisor would have an instant display of the incident location and provide immediate verbal communication allowing confirmation for both the police department and the school that there is an incident and police are responding.

The police department has determined that the SAVE hotline is a rapid, reliable, inexpensive system that is simple to utilize and will expedite police response time in active violence situations in our schools. This hotline will allow the caller to bypass the usual intermediate interview with an emergency complaint operator therefore resulting in an immediate dispatch of the closest available resources by the supervisor.

Currently, 74 schools in 10 districts throughout the police district are utilizing the SAVE hotline.

“The SAVE Hotline will provide law enforcement with the information they need to effectively and expeditiously respond to an emergency,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said. “I applaud Legislator Anker for her leadership to make sure we do everything possible to protect our children.”

“The SAVE Hotline is an imperative tool for officers responding to an active shooter situation,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Edward Webber said. “While we hope that the hotline is never needed, we urge schools to take advantage of this program in order to protect students and teachers.”

“As we approach the one-year anniversary of the tragic event that took place at Sandy Hook, we must continue to offer every safety option available to protect our children and school employees,” Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker said. “Suffolk County's SAVE Hotline was created to do just that. I commend Suffolk County Police Department's creation and implementation of the hotline system, which provides schools with a cost-effective option that will increase school safety during a crisis situation. Every second counts during emergency rescue and the SAVE Hotline can save lives."

Additional information on the SAVE program as well as applications for schools can be found at www.suffolkpd.org.

Pictured: SAVE Hotline Set Up, via SCPD's website.