Because crime never sleeps, the Woodstock Police Department has found a new way to get an extra eye on neighborhoods through Nation of Neighbors, a free online forum that accepts reports of potential criminal activity, all of which is submitted electronically by both citizens and law enforcement.
“(This is) an ideal way for neighbors to establish partnerships with each other and with the police to address quality of life and criminal matters, all from the privacy of their own homes,” Police Chief David Bores said. “We encourage all law abiding citizens to enroll because the program is free.”
Basically, Woodstock Lt. T.D. Brazie said, Nation of Neighbors is an online neighborhood watch program which sends e-mail and text message alerts to Woodstock residents registered on the Web site, whose criteria matches the alerts.
“Say someone registered in a neighborhood sees a suspicious vehicle on the road, they post an alert, and an e-mail or text message will be sent out warning anyone else registered in the neighborhood of the activity,” Brazie said as an example.
Public Information Officer Brittany Duncan said, “In the event that several members report identical or related incidents, a report is sent to the Woodstock Police Department. Law enforcement, in turn, can communicate with members within subdivisions through alerts.”
Duncan added that members can also utilize the Web site to discuss suspicious activity within the community, participate in community discussions, share news, photos and documents, and manage upcoming events.
According to Nation of Neighbors Web site, all filed reports will be anonymous, even if submitted by a logged-in member.
Because someone may classify an incident or vehicle as suspicious, when in reality it is not, Nation of Neighbors’ proprietary report algorithm scores each report and assigns it a trustworthiness index, officials said.
Depending on the score the report receives, the details will either broadcast right away or will be held for review. If approved, the report will be broadcasted to members whose alert criteria match the report.
“This is not a substitute for calling 911. If there is an emergency, or you see something suspicious, call 911,” Brazie said.
Nation of Neighbors, he added, simply is an attempt to get neighborhoods involved in watches, without having to rely on a “block caption” to report the information to law enforcement.
Currently, Brazie has all neighborhoods within incorporated Woodstock registered on the Web site.
If interested, visit www.nationofneighbors.com to sign up and click on the respective neighborhood.
