This screenshot shows what the smartphone app Nextdoor looks like when it's being used. The Chattanooga Police Department will today begin using the neighborhood app to communicate directly with residents. Photo contributed.The Chattanooga Police Department today will start using a smartphone application to communicate with city residents about crime on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis.
Police will use an app called Nextdoor to send safety tips, event information and alerts directly to specific neighborhoods within the city, communication coordinator Kyle Miller said.
The app functions as a private community forum where residents can share information on everything from lost dogs to plumbers and yard sales. About 65 neighborhoods in Chattanooga already are using the app, according to police.
Police will not be able to see posts among neighbors, but will be able to put up their own posts for residents to see, said Jen Burke, communications manager at Nextdoor.
"If there is a vehicle break-in on one street they can post to just that one neighborhood," Burke said.
Neighbors can then opt to reply to police posts or privately message the police, she said. The app is free for both police and residents to use, she added. Residents must verify that they actually live in a neighborhood before they are allowed to sign up.
Every captain and lieutenant at the police department will use the app, Miller said. Each of those people will only be able to access the neighborhoods they patrol.
"Having the ability to easily communicate with residents is extremely vital to not only maintaining but also increasing safety," police Chief Fred Fletcher said in a statement.
In Stuart Heights, about 330 people use Nextdoor, said Carla Askonas, co-president of the Stuart Heights Neighborhood Association. The neighborhood has been using the app for about a year-and-a-half. She thinks adding the police to the app will be helpful.
"I think it will just provide some good common-sense reminders," she said. "The police will not be able to see posts from the neighborhood, so they're not going to get any more info about us, but we may be able to get valuable and timely information from them."
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