LAWRENCEVILLE — On Monday, the Gwinnett County Police Department announced that as of June 1, they now have Text to 911 capabilities.  They stress that the best method to contact 911 is still by placing a phone call to 911, however, they realize that there may be circumstances when a text may be better.  Citizens now have the opportunity to place a text to 911 if they cannot call.

According to the Gwinnett County Police Department,

“Text to 9-1-1 is intended primarily for use in three emergency scenarios:

• For an individual who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, or has a speech disability.

• For someone who is in a situation where it is not safe to place a voice call to 9-1-1.

• A medical emergency that renders the person incapable of speech.”

You must be a subscriber to your wireless carrier’s text or data plan to place and receive text messages.  Texts will not work without it like a call to 9-1-1 will work without an active wireless carrier plan.

“Also our citizens need to be aware that text messaging apps that only support texting with other app users or texting via social media are not required to support text to 9-1-1,” says Sgt. Jennifer Richter from the Gwinnett County Police Department.

For additional information on the new Text to 9-1-1 capabilities, visit http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/.

— Staff Reports