Metacomet Emergency Communication Center (MECC) stats for Friday's storm (12/19/25)

Via the Metacomet Emergency Communication Center (MECC) :

MECC stats

"Yesterday’s storm pushed our center to the highest call volume we’ve see all year and our team rose to the challenge.

Between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM:

• 911 calls- 196
• Business line calls - 340
• Dispatched Incidents- 350

To support the day shift during the surge, we called in additional staff from home, and everyone worked together seamlessly to manage the influx.

We are extremely proud of our dispatchers and support staff for keeping our communities safe when it mattered most. ALSO a big thank you to all our Fire and Police Departments that worked tirelessly going call to call to ensure safety!"

Shared from ->  https://www.facebook.com/share/1AQmzBnues/

Did you catch my conversation with Gary Premo, Executive Director of the Metacomet Emergency Communication Center (MECC) recorded in February 2025 -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/03/gary-premo-talks-about-growth-and.html

Community tips for calling 911

Via the Metacomet Emergency Communications Center (MECC)

Community tips for calling 911

Shared from -> https://www.facebook.com/share/p/HWwrbbE1umJgoHds/

Do you keep your emergency info on the refrigerator?

Franklin Fire Department EMS Chief William Blanchard and EMS Captain Laurie Kaye were special guests for the Rise Up gathering Saturday morning at the Franklin Public Library. They presented and lead a Q&A discussion on "Emergencies for People with Disabilities."

Many of the key tips apply to all folks 

• Do you keep your emergency info on the refrigerator? You should. That is one place easily found and readily available for emergency personnel to find and use to help delivering support to your household. You can find info on setting up your emergency profile -> https://www.emergencyprofile.org/
• Were you aware of the Silent 911 procedure to use in cases where you need to call 911 but can't talk?

Silent 911 procedure

The presentation copy shared on Saturday can be found here (PDF) ->

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sEf8-S2ZunWuX5pf0BV1JKZBCStFYkwb/view?usp=drive_link

Thanks to Ali Rheaume for her coordination of this group and valuable information shared. The group is scheduled to meet on the 3rd Saturday of each month. This one-hour social meet-up is intended to be a safe space for:

• individuals navigating life with disability to meet others they can relate with
• community partners to learn more about the population and share resources
• support persons to meet other support persons

For additional information about this event, please visit ->   https://alirheaume.com/rise-up

Some of the group posed for a photo on Saturday

Have you used the Suggestion Box? | Town of Franklin MA

On the Town of Franklin home page, there are a variety of Customer Service Request links available.

• If you find a street light out, or a pothole that should be filled, use the "Public Works work order"
• Sign up for the Reverse 911 to get notified by the Town of an emergency in your neighborhood.
• Or use the Comment Box to make a suggestion...

Visit https://www.franklinma.gov/ to use any one of these options

Have you used the Suggestion Box? | Town of Franklin MA

Town of Franklin, MA: Errant Reverse 911 notifications

October 15,2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Franklin, Massachusetts): On Sunday October 11, 2020 the Franklin Police Department had an incident in which a Reverse 911 telephone call from the Franklin system was sent. The message asked residents to shelter in place.

As resources arrived on the scene it became clear that many people had not received the message. This could be because the Franklin Reverse 911 system is a an "opt in" system. This means you must sign up to receive notifications.

Given the seriousness of the situation, a man shooting a gun in the open, the risk to innocent people was greatly heightened. Because of this, a second resource from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) was called upon. This system utilizes "Geo Fencing", which attempts to send wireless messages to mobile devices inside a defined area.

For an unknown technical reason, some of these messages were delivered to communities outside of Franklin. This problem is being investigated in the hope of avoiding problems in the future. Safety for the public and officers is at the center of every decision made.

As with all incidents lessons are learned. In the future when utilizing resources from outside agencies, such as MEMA, we will be more specific in identifying the Town, and area effected in the message itself.

We apologize for any worry that was created, and the disruptions to the Police Departments in those communities.

As a reminder to Franklin residents, you may sign up for our alert system here: franklintown.regroup.com/signup

 

Town of Franklin, MA: Errant Reverse 911 notifications

In the News: Library closed due to exposure; MEMA did send an alert - researching continues

From the Milford Daily News, an article of interest for Franklin:

"Staff at the Franklin Public Library will return to work on Saturday after being sent home Wednesday morning due to a possible exposure of COVID-19, town officials said in a press release Wednesday night.

In consultation with the Board of Health, the library decided to send staff members home on Wednesday morning out of an abundance of caution, town officials said. In the meantime, crews were expected to be on-site to disinfect the entire library building and, if necessary, staff will be encouraged to take a COVID-19 test and quarantine.

“Since the library has not yet been open to the public, we are confident that Franklin residents have not been exposed to the virus and the town continues to remain confident we can reopen the library on Nov. 9 as we are planning,” town officials said.

The library plans to reopen for curbside pickup and other services on Monday. The library has been closed to the public since March due to the coronavirus and has been offering curbside pickup since May. Curbside pickup is offered Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the vestibule of the entrance at the top of the parking lot ramp."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20201015/franklin-public-library-closed-until-saturday-due-to-possible-covid-19-exposure?rssfeed=true

 

 

reopen for curbside pickup and other services on Monday

"There is increasing clarity as to who sent a shelter-in-place alert on Sunday that was sent to many communities around Franklin.

The alert was sent to several communities using a geo fencing process by Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Franklin police said they sent the alert to those who signed up for Reverse 911. However, because its system only sends alerts to those who sign up for it, a second “resource” sent out a similar message.

MEMA sent out the second alert, which went to several communities, including non-neighboring towns Mendon and Milford, which weren’t part of the shelter-in-place order, that was similar to the message Franklin

The MEMA system uses something called “geofencing,” which sends wireless messages to mobile devices in a defined area."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20201015/mema-sent-second-shelter-in-place-alert-on-sunday-and-for-unknown-technical-reason-it-went-well-beyond-franklin?rssfeed=true

In the News: mystery about the expanded 'shelter in place' order; individual to be arraigned on multiple charges

From the Milford Daily News, an article of interest for Franklin:

"Police from Franklin sent out a Reverse 911 on Sunday ordering residents to “shelter-in-place” during a standoff with an armed man who fired at police officers.

Although that is not an unusual move, what happened afterward was. The order was also sent to residents in several other nearby communities, including Milford, Blackstone, Mendon, Wrentham, North Attleboro and Walpole.

How that happened is a mystery, according to Franklin police Sgt. Brian Johnson."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20201014/franklin-police-dont-know-how-emergency-alert-went-to-several-communities-during-sundays-standoff-they-only-warned-their-residents?rssfeed=true

 

 

The man who authorities say fired several shots at police officers during an armed standoff at the Spruce Pond condominium complex on Sunday is expected to be arraigned Thursday in Wrentham District Court.

Police filed charges against Thomas E. McManus, 53, of 46 Quince Landing, related to the incident on Sunday.

Police charged McManus with six counts of armed assault to murder with a firearm; assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; assault and battery on a police officer; discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling; disorderly conduct; disturbing the peace; and three counts of vandalizing property.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20201014/franklin-standoff-suspect-to-be-arraigned-thursday-on-multiple-charges?rssfeed=true 

Reminder: subscribe to the Franklin Reverse 911 notification system

"Reminder: The Franklin Reverse 911 notification system is an "OPT IN" system. You must sign up for notifications. We do not have everyone's home and mobile phone numbers. 

Free and easy to sign up": https://franklintown.regroup.com/signup

Shared from Twitter  https://twitter.com/franklinpolice/status/1315469221418143744?s=03

https://twitter.com/franklinpolice

[Residents] Franklin Police Business Line experiencing an outage

Please be advised we are experiencing outages with our 508-528-1212 business line. 

Any non emergency or emergency police services please call the Metacomet Emergency Community Center 911 line. 

Franklin Police Business Line experiencing an outage

Franklin Annual Report - 2018: Metacomet Emergency Communications Center (MECC)

Construction on the building continues. We anticipate dispatching our first call in early 2019. Once complete the MECC will operate state of the art systems and equipment to handle the dispatching of police, fire and EMS calls for service for the four communities; Franklin, Norfolk, Plainville and Wrentham. We will serve a combined population of just under 66,000 residents (2015 census data) covering 76.7 square miles.

The State 911 Department will begin “text to 911” service of the Next Generation 911 (NG911) system later this year. This will enable our call takers to assist with emergency calls with the deaf and hard of hearing population or those who cannot verbally communicate. Remember, “Call If You Can, Text If You Can’t”.

The MECC will staff highly skilled, trained, professional telecommunicators ready to assist, day or night. Rest assured we stand ready to help you in your time of need.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary M Premo
Executive Director



You can read the full Annual Report for 2018 online
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/uploads/franklin_2018_town_report.pdf

The archive of prior year annual reports
https://www.franklinma.gov/town-clerk/pages/annual-reports


In the Finance Committee meeting of Oct 16, 2018, we learned that Norfolk construction delays for regional dispatch center will affect Franklin and the budget for an additional three months. It was supposed to begin operation in Jan 2019, and is now scheduled for operation in March (Apr 1 for budgeting purposes). The discussion was to fund an $28K for Police and $70K for Fire to cover the delay.

The Franklin Matters notes from the FinCom meeting Oct 16
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/10/live-reporting-finance-committee-oct-16.html

Facebook photo for MECC  https://www.facebook.com/meccdispatch/?nr

[Franklin Residents] 911 Outages

Please be advised that the 911 system is experiencing sporadic outages. 

If you call 911 and receive a busy signal, please hang up and dial 508-520-1916. Technicians are working on the problem. Currently 37 states are affected including Massachusetts.

You received this message because you are subscribed to the [Town of Franklin-Residents] group.

To Subscribe to this group click here:  https://franklintown.regroup.com/signup'

[Franklin Residents] 911 Outages

Sign up for Franklin's Reverse 911 system

I had signed up previously but it appears that the system may have been updated and you need to reestablish your profile and account settings.

It was accomplished quickly and easily. I do recommend signing up for these alerts. They are not overdone and while it is good to have you find out from Franklin Matters, there will be times you need to hear directly.

Sign up online  franklintown.regroup.com

Sign up online  franklintown.regroup.com

Shared from the DPW Facebook posting
https://www.facebook.com/FranklinDPW/photos/a.938433076241163/2069290956488697/?type=3&theater