Chief Sam Somers says ten-thousand city households are now part of the Nextdoor social media network. Nextdoor allows neighbors and police a secure place to talk online or by way of smart phone about anything happening in the neighborhood.
"We have the community's buy-in," says Somers. "We have to have the community support. We have to have the community involved. We have to have their eyes and ears. Because, if we don't have that, there's not enough of us to be able to police this city to make it the safest."
Somers says he believes the seven-point-seven-percent drop in the crime rate and a 30-percent decrease in shootings from last year is partly a result of new crime-prevention programs that began this year.
Kris Levy lives in Land Park. When a police helicopter flew over her neighborhood a few nights ago, she went to the website.
"They were communicating back and forth and we finally got some cross streets," she says. "The police were involved and they apprehended two suspects in a crime that took place right there."
Ten-thousand sign-ups meet a police department goal seven months ahead of schedule.
The department hopes to double the number of sign-ups by June.
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