L.A. suburb adopts Hi-Lo audio warning system for evacuation alerts

The Culver City, California, Police Department launched a Hi-Lo Audible Warning System this week for first responders to issue evacuation alerts due to wildfires, flooding, mudslides, earthquakes, hazmat incidents or SWAT standoffs.

The system, which uses a high-pitched tone followed by a low-pitched tone, will only be activated by the department’s roughly 30 patrol vehicles when navigating areas under emergency evacuation orders.

Jennifer Atenza, public information officer for the Culver City Police Department, said the system is designed to cut through the noise of daily life, grabbing the attention of residents with its distinct and easily recognizable sound.

“Anytime that we need in an emergency situation to evacuate an area very quickly, our officers will be able to activate the siren and drive through the area so that people know this area is subject to that evacuation order,” Atenza said, adding that the system will alternate between English and Spanish announcements and include a recording identifying the source of the sound as the Culver City Police Department.

Often considered part of the Greater Los Angeles area, Culver is a separate city with its own government and boundaries.

Atenza said this year’s Los Angeles wildfires, which killed at least 24 people and displaced more than 100,000, created a sense of urgency for Culver City leaders to implement a more resilient evacuation system in the event that traditional systems fail.

“Our media do a phenomenal job of covering those emergencies and keeping people informed on when they need to leave areas, but they may not be able to access television. They may not be able to access radio or cell phones. We’ve seen that happen, unfortunately, in California with some fires as of late,” Atenza said.

Atenza said the new system does not replace police officers going door to door to conduct manual evacuations.

“We know it’s not a matter of if, unfortunately, we know it’s a matter of when we’ll need to use this someday,” she said. “And so now it’s one more way that they’ll be able to do their jobs safer and quicker.”

In 2020, California passed a statewide law allowing emergency vehicles to adopt the Hi-Lo warning system, as it meets the sound level, frequency and wattage requirements set forth by the Department of the California Highway Patrol.

Atenza said the warning system was installed in Culver City’s patrol vehicles within a day at no additional cost, because activation only required plugging in a device.

“It was kind of like an update that took about two to five minutes per vehicle, so we were able to knock it out in one day,” Atenza said. “We didn’t have to rewire the vehicles. We didn’t have to purchase any new equipment. It was something that we were able, basically, to do reprogramming in the computer system that’s already in there.”

She said, though, that the city still needs to spread public awareness about the new system and plans to incorporate disaster drills in neighborhoods.

“If our communities don’t know what to do when they hear this sound, then it’s not effective,” she said.