A new social media site, www.nextdoor.com, is assisting the public and Westfield Police Dept. to better interact with one another.
Question: What is Nextdoor.com?
Answer: Nextdoor is a social media site that allows neighbors to connect. We were made aware of it due to the involvement of one of our officers, as well as a resident named Aaron Sherrick who was an early adopter and advocate for the site in Countryside. Aaron did a great job of getting his neighbors signed up. He also clearly illustrated the benefits Nextdoor could have for a police department, prompting us to pursue it as a tool to communicate with citizens.
Q: Why Nextdoor.com?
A: Nextdoor is a great social media tool that the police department will use to enhance communication with our residents and neighborhoods. This resource will allow the police department to learn about neighborhood challenges and problems. We will also share information regarding specific criminal activity and send immediate urgent alerts as needed.
We have already seen tremendous success. Since officially launching on the site three weeks ago, we have seen almost a thousand residents join and doubled the number of neighborhoods involved. Currently, there are 49 neighborhoods out of 74; 32 of which are fully launched and 17 that are in the pilot stage. At time of writing, there are 2,163 households – or 2,773 residents – that are participating. This is phenomenal.
Q: How Does Nextdoor Help?
A: Because Nextdoor is based on neighborhood participation, it allows us to send relevant, geographically important information to people in a clearly defined area. Unlike Facebook or Twitter, which allows us to blast out information to the entire world, Nextdoor helps us engage in dialogue with specific areas. This means that not every neighborhood will receive the same info. This will help us alert neighbors in a particular community about suspicious activity, such as thefts from vehicles or vandalism, in an effort to prevent instances from occurring. And this info isn’t just for your PC – we are able to also send alerts to your phone via text message in case something happens and you aren’t in the area.
In addition, we’ll also be proactive, using Nextdoor as a way to educate citizens. This could include walking folks through the process of reporting a crime, teaching them how to submit a vacation check request, detailing home safety best practices and educating them about what solicitors are approved to be knocking on their doors.
We are very excited about the opportunities for engagement Nextdoor will bring. We encourage residents to sign up and get involved by visiting www.nextdoor.com . Together we can make Westfield a safe community for ourselves and our neighbors.
Scott Jordan is the assistant chief of police for the Westfield Police Department. He can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 804-3200.
