For www NextDoor com join code and the other question is in order to maintain the integrity, Vivian Easton is president of the Las Brisas Hills condominium association. What I'm trying to find out is how we can incorporate this into our community, Las Brisas has 301 homes, incorporate a new social networking website that the Irving Police Department is encouraging residents to join. It's called nextdoor.
Nextdoor is a secured virtual crime watch website
Nextdoor is a secured virtual crime watch website, what nextdoor has done? They have mapped the city of Irving in 251 smaller neighborhoods, and they've titled each one of those neighborhoods according to a neighborhood association or a homeowner's association.
This is the nextdoor home page here, during a recent neighborhood roundtable meeting at City Hall, Officer John argument Niece gave a presentation about nextdoor, he says the police department is always looking for new ways to stay connected to the community.
That's a key part of our success here in Irving, crime continues to go down in this city Irving, and the reason it does is because of our involvement or the involvement of our residents.
A neighborhood watch online type program
Many residents are eager to learn more about the new tool that I can give those that are yet on the network, Sally graph has been a member of next door since before the city started promoting it.
It was on maybe a CNN or 60 minutes or one of the news magazines, that said it was kind of a neighborhood to watch online type program, she says she decided to test it out just for kicks and found that not only is it user-friendly, but it really does have the potential to unite a neighborhood.
You go to work, you lock yourself in the house, and that's about it. Now it's kind of fun, you see anyway do you know who they are, where they're, from a little bit of background, the graph is encouraging her neighbors to join and that is what the Irving PD and next door are trying to do get residents talking.
That person does live in that neighborhood can join
It's funny, how much we have in common and didn't realize it getting started is easy. All residents have to do is visit nextdoor.com, and sign in to find out if they live in an area where the website has been established. If so, they can request to be a member.
What nextdoor does is they look at those requests, and they first verify that that person does, in fact, live in that neighborhood. This process is how the next door makes its site safe and secure. Once they're able to verify that that person lives in the neighborhood, they fill out some information and then they are allowed access to that secured website.
The police department does not have access to any information neighbors share, however, members are able to see alerts that the police department hosts, they keep crime alerts and they'll have video of their or if there's somebody there looking for they'll post that out there.
For neighbors to get to know each other better
But the website is not just to fight crime, members can post on an array of topics, and it's also just another tool for neighbors to get to know each other better. If they're looking for someone to repair a fence, they can pass that information along to members living in their association.
We've got puppies for sale or do you know where I can get a tree trimmer, that kind of thing. Easton believes the private social network could be a great tool for neighbors to support each other, and we always thought about how can we tap the talents of our community like.
For people who have their own business or maybe there are licensed electricians, she's also very grateful for the resources the city offers. I appreciate the City of Irving, I don't know if all cities do what the City of Irving does, but they provide a lot of resources to us and help us in our communities, and with just a few clicks you could be helping the community by getting connected with your neighbors.