Lancaster police want to be able to reach residents and businesses in an emergency and are urging people to sign up for alerts.The Red Rose Alerts system was most recently used on March 23 when a bomb threat forced the evacuation of several city blocks. That day, more than 3,000 people received notifications.The city thinks the use of the system was successful and hopes that high-profile examples will encourage more people to opt in.
The next step is applying for a type of system that rings all phones in a specific area, similar to Amber Alerts.'The wireless emergency alerts are geo-targeted, so whether you're signed up or not in that instance, you will receive a notification to your phone if you were in the area that we select,' Righter said.That technology will be helpful for tourists and visitors to the city who haven't opted into the Red Rose Alerts.