Colchester, Essex -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/03/2010 -- Over the last two months there have been serious incidents which have directly affected the well being of the public. The Cumbria shootings and the Raoul Moat shootings have left the public vulnerable to unexpected attacks. Police forces in both circumstances found it challenging to keep the public informed with up to date with information and attempts made through police website updates and radio announcements did not reach the population as a whole.

Throughout the week long search for Raoul Moat, the community of Rothbury were kept on high alert of danger, a situation that could have been diffused with direct and regular communication from the authorities. BBC Newcastle Radio tried to ‘keep the public informed without any sensationalism that was occurring in the media’, however these attempts were limited to direct listeners, not reaching the wider community. The media did not always give clear facts or updates leaving the public vulnerable of continual speculation.

Similarly the Cumbria shootings also experienced information failure. According to The Guardian during the Cumbria shootings ‘Three unarmed police officers tried and failed to follow the car of mass murderer Derrick Bird before he killed a further nine people’, ‘Lives could have been saved if police had got to Bird or got a handle on his movements sooner,".

Many police forces around the country have employed messaging platforms to allow them to send authorised, critical information directly to the local population via email and SMS, allowing them to quickly sign up to receive alerts through an 0800 number or website registration. When public safety is threatened, a key part of the police force’s job is to use information to keep people safe. A poorly or mis-informed population can be heavily influenced by the sensational nature of the tabloid newspapers, and some of the public backlash felt by the police forces after these two shooting sprees could have been mediated by keeping the public informed on issues concerning their safety.

Vocal’s messaging solutions have been used in by police forces and local authorities during high profile events that threatened public safety, such as the London 7/7 bombings and G20 Protests. Vocal’s Warn and Inform system can be used during such incidents by the police, emergency services or local councils to accurately inform the public on a large scale during events that concern their safety and well being.

Warn and Inform is a fully supported desktop and web hosted solution providing business and community based information displayed within a fully customisable environment. The system provides a feature set and modular expansion enabling emergency services and users to communicate in real time and for recipients or viewers to have access to permission based information.

Vocal is a provider of critical information communication through our award-winning iModus system, trusted to provide the public and private sectors with the tools to deliver necessary information to staff, residents and stakeholders.

For more information visit http://www.vocal.co.uk or contact our Accounts Team on 0800 035 0081 or sales@vocal.co.uk