Cumberland County

County Information

The County seat of Cumberland County is Carlisle and was founded in 1751 and has a current population of 241,212 based on the 2013 US Census Bureau Statistics.

Call If You Can. Text If You Can’t; Cumberland County Unveils “txt to 911”

Cumberland County residents can now text to 911 from a mobile phone when they are in an emergency situation and aren’t able to make a call. The text to 911 service is available through the four major U.S. phone carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizontext to 911 Opens in new window.    

“Text to 911 gives our residents another tool to contact our 911 dispatchers in an emergency,” said Cumberland County Commissioner Vince DiFilippo. “By implementing text to 911, we will be able to assist residents who can’t call 911 when they are in a difficult situation.”

When texting, use these simple steps:

  • Text 911. Type in the address of the emergency;
  • Type in the borough or township where the emergency is located;
  • Type a brief message describing the emergency, without abbreviations or emojis.

After texting your address, our dispatchers will ask questions until they garner enough information to dispatch the proper first responders.

“Texting the township or borough is vital in helping our 911 dispatchers get the appropriate responders to a resident’s emergency,” said Robert Shively, Cumberland County Director of Public Safety. “In our county, there are several street names that are the same, if you know the location, but not the borough or township, residents should give dispatchers the closest road, intersection or landmark, so we can send help as quickly as possible.”   

Help us, help you in an emergency. Call if you can. Text if you can’t.