Pearl* it sounds bad I think when you read it, but we know different. I believe this is the best place to live in Hamilton County.
Absolutely. I've lived here a long time because there is no place I'd rather be.
I think the whole 911 thing is being blown out of proportion a little. Just because we can't directly call the police doesn't mean that they don't have ways to communicate with other law enforcement agencies.
I don't live in Signal Mountain, but I do live in the unincorporated County. And if someone calls 911 it never takes more than five minutes to get a patrol car to come and check something out. Last week, we had a transformer blow up one night in the neighborhood behind us (more fallen trees on the lines) and our neighbors called 911. It was no more than a few minutes before LE showed up with several cars.
And they have GPS and maps and I see patrols all the time, even late at night. So I really don't know where the idea comes from that we aren't covered in Hamilton County. There might be some confusing situations where jurisdictions overlap. Out here in the East county there are places where it's hard to know if a person should call the Sherriff, the Collegedale Police, or the City of Chattanooga, but the 911 dispatcher usually will tell you what is up with that.
The Mountain is a little different because it's separate, but I always thought the problem was too much patrolling, not too little patrolling. :cow:
Yes all the way. They communicate, they use their GPS technology--even with cell phones now, they are constantly on patrol, and the response time can't be beaten anywhere. I don't doubt that Gail got results each and every time she called 911.
There is, however, a communication gap between the caller and the dispatcher, unless the caller realizes the dispatcher is not just around the corner. And for many years they were. I'm not sure when the change happened, but I think I could round it off to 2005. Most people don't have occasion to call 911 very often--I certainly hope--and therefore many people still don't know.
This will probably help non-locals understand more about Signal Mountain as well as the "911" issue itself. We are a small town where everybody knows most everybody. It's impossible to go to the grocery store without seeing somebody you know. I can't for the life of me figure out how we managed to misplace a RED JEEP!
Here's the problem: I made a 911 call myself within the last year, and the conversation went something like this (actual locations changed for privacy purposes):
911: 911, what is your emergency?
Me: There's been a car accident on the main highway right in front of Pruett's.
911: What highway is that?
Me: You know, the MAIN HIGHWAY.
911: What is the name of the road?
Me: What?? It's RIGHT HERE in front of PRUETT'S!
911: Do you know the address of Pruett's?
...and at that point, the local person who thinks the conversation is with another local person...is ready to jump through the phone. :banghead:
