Youngstown block watch spurns emergency notification system

YOUNGSTOWN

The City Watch System emergency-notification program for Youngstown residents is so disappointing to one block-watch group, they are using another system they found online.

“The constant replaying of messages was very aggravating for our members. Some of them didn’t want to be a part of the group anymore,” said Francine Jeffries, president of Newport Neighborhood Association.

Emergency-notification systems allow a series of phone numbers from a select group, such as a neighborhood, to be programmed into a computer and automatically dialed in the event of an emergency.

Jeffries and others were frustrated by problems with the City Watch System, including multiple calls to a single home. The system was purchased by the city in 1997 for $22,000. Block-watch leaders as well as city police officials said it never worked properly.

The company that sold the city the system, Avtex Systems, has said that the system needs to be updated.

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