Billerica, MA  – Aug 28, 2013 – Billerica Police Department

In an effort to help facilitate a virtual neighborhood watch program and help foster neighbor-to-neighbor communications, the Billerica Police Department has partnered with Nextdoor (www.nextdoor.com), the private social network for neighborhoods.

Nextdoor is free for the residents and the Town. Each Billerica neighborhood has its own private Nextdoor neighborhood website, accessible only to residents of that neighborhood. Residents can use their website to get to know their neighbors, ask questions, and exchange local advice and recommendations. For example, neighbors use Nextdoor to share information about neighborhood watch and safety issues, local events, school activities, upcoming garage sales, lost pets, and  more.

Neighborhoods establish and self-manage their own Nextdoor website. Information shared on Nextdoor is only visible to verified members. The Billerica Police Department will be able to post important information, such as crime updates to Nextdoor sites within the Town. The Police Department will not be able to access the residents websites, contact information, or content.

“In this day and age, it is vital for neighbors to come together and look out for one another. Nextdoor makes it easy for neighbors to establish a virtual neighborhood watch and help combat crime”, said Lieutenant Roy Frost.

Nextdoor was specifically designed to make neighbors feel comfortable sharing information with one another in order to build stronger communities. All members must verify that they live within the neighborhood. Information shared on Nextdoor is password protected and cannot be accessed by those outside the neighborhood or found on Google or other search engines. In addition, Nextdoor never shares personal information with any third parties. Unlike an email list serv or other online groups, neighbor posts are organized and archived for future reference.

Lieutenant Greg Katz, the Police Department’s technology manager, says that he was wary of a new social media initiative but Nextdoor is doing something unique that he could not ignore.  “Unlike many social media platforms, Nextdoor not only takes privacy seriously, they go a step further and make sure you live in the neighborhood that you’re registering for”, says Katz.  “Nextdoor makes information sharing among neighbors safer without the concern that conversations are subject to a worldwide audience and probing search engines. This is a more effective platform when considering neighborhood watch and other local communications.  On our end, Nextdoor makes it easy for us to administrate the site and allows employees to engage residents while respecting the privacy of individual neighborhoods”, according to Katz.

The Town of Billerica has been mapped into 37 different neighborhoods. Those interested in joining their neighborhood’s Nextdoor website can visit www.nextdoor.com and register.