MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — The Martin County Sheriff's Office is making enhancements to its alert system to distribute timely information in the event of an emergency.
In the mailroom at the Martin County Sheriff's Office, stacks of envelopes were getting postmarked Monday and dropped into the mailbox.
The sheriff is sending letters to hundreds of businesses and religious institutions in the county about upgrades to the AlertMartin system.
"It really helps us to get a timely message out immediately," Sheriff William Snyder said.
The sheriff's office used the alert system last week and pushed out a message alerting local churches about protests following the Supreme Court leak of a draft opinion about Roe v. Wade.
After a violent weekend across the country — including deadly shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo and at a church in Southern California — officials in Martin County said its alert system would have been activated if a similar incident occurred locally.
"Like that church shooting, had the offender gotten away, we would have immediately notified all churches about an incident to be alert, and of course then we step up patrols," Snyder said.
The sheriff's office is now asking the local businesses and organizations to list a cellphone number so they can better alert someone in real-time of an emergency or to warn of a crime trend such as car break-ins or jewelry thefts.
"We have to try and stay one step ahead, and we think information is one of the keys," Snyder said.