MIDDLETOWN — Thanks to a new emergency notification system, residents may soon receive automated messages directly from the Middletown police.

“This is just another way to get the word out,” said Town Administrator Gerald Kempen.

Called “CodeRED,” the system will give town officials the ability to send out terrorism threats and evacuation notices, and inform residents at home and even on their cell phones of chemical spills, traffic problems, missing child reports and other emergency situations.

The program, which uses Internet mapping technology to target specific areas or the entire town, can place up to 60,000 calls in an hour.

Lt. Robert Nutt said that before CodeRED, town officials relied on the media to get the word out, and the department wanted a more coordinated way to get important messages to residents. Now the town can contact them directly, he said.

Tiverton installed CodeRED in July, and Nutt is not aware of any other municipalities that use that system, though Barrington implemented a similar program, called “reverse 911,” in May.

Home phone numbers have been uploaded into the system, but residents should not assume that they will be alerted in an emergency.

Residents with unlisted numbers, those who use their cell phone as their primary number, or those who have changed their telephone number in the past year are asked to update their contact information on the Middletown police Web site at www.middletownri.com. Residents without Internet access can give their information directly to the department desk officer.

Though the system is ready for use, the department conducted a preliminary test of the system by contacting the 12 members of the command staff last week.

“We had everybody in like, two or three minutes. It was pretty cool,” Nutt said.

Kempen said CodeRED, which costs $10,000 the first year and $5,000 for each subsequent year, is an efficient way to keep residents informed during emergencies.

“Over time we’re seeing that direct communication with the residents is more and more important,” he said.