Police to use text messages, e-mails to alert public

The Le Mars Police Department recently signed up for Nixle, a free program that allows community groups like law enforcement agencies to provide up-to-the-minute updates to the general public.

Nixle messages go out as short, one- or two-sentence alerts sent directly to cell phones and email accounts of people who have registered with the system.

"It seems so logical a way to get information out to people in a timely way," Le Mars Police Chief Stu Dekkenga said.

Police scanners used to be a major source of information to the public, he said.

Now that's changing.

"Most people today have cell phones. This really touches people where they're at, out and about," Dekkenga said. "When we send out a Nixle message, we want as many people to know about this as possible."

Nixle is free for public agencies like law enforcement offices to use.

The police can send out four types of messages through Nixle: alerts, advisories, community messages and traffic notices.

Alerts would be emergencies, like if a child is missing. The police can even attach a photograph if needed, Dekkenga said.

An advisory might be a notice that odd/even parking is in effect after a snowstorm, he said.

A community message might remind people where a voting location is, and a traffic note might let people know about an accident on a certain road, he explained.

Nixle users can choose if they want to receive all messages from the police or just alerts.

When the police send a message, the also determine how wide of a geographical area to send it to.

For some alerts, they may only send it to Nixle users within one-half mile of the incident. For other alerts, they can send them to users up to 20 miles away.

Within seconds of sending a message, Nixle subscribers receive it via phone or email.

The police will include contact information as necessary in Nixle messages, Dekkenga said.

"If it's a specific case with specific officers working on it, we could put their phone number and e-mail address, and people could send replies right back to that officer," he explained.

For the alert system to work, though, people need to sign up to receive messages, Dekkenga said.

"None of this will do any good if no one is listening," he said.

To receive the messages, people can sign up online at www.nixle.com.

The service is free and secure, and extra advertising won't be sent to their phones or e-mail accounts, according to www.nixle.com.

"Phone numbers and e-mail addresses stay with Nixle -- we don't have access to them," Dekkenga said.

For people who don't use cell phones or have text messaging service on their cell phone, the messages can still be sent via e-mail.

Users can cancel Nixle subscriptions at any time.

Dekkenga said his interest in Nixle was sparked after seeing the use and success of Nixle by the Sioux County Sheriff's Department.

That office picked up the service more than five months ago and, in one case, used it to help find a missing 5-year-old girl in Hull.

"She came home from school and got off the bus and her mother was not able to meet her because she had a conflict, and the girl just walked in the wrong direction," Sioux County Sheriff Dan Altena said. "Along with notifying emergency responders, we sent out a message on Nixle. Within five minutes, a young man who had signed up for the program called the 911 communication center and let us know where she was."

Could information sent out on Nixle ever be used harmfully? Possibly, Altena said.

"But the possibility of not using the program because someone could use it for harm is outweighed by the good of using it," he said.

His department also used Nixle to alert drivers when a major accident partially blocked a road and for weather advisories.

About 400 people have signed up for the service in Sioux County.

"It's very user-friendly," he said.

In Plymouth County, the sheriff's department is in talking stages about using Nixle as well.

"We are looking into it," Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo said.

Dekkenga said the Le Mars Police Department has already tested the Nixle system locally and it's ready to send alerts now.

"I don't know how much we'll use it, but eventually we could grow to use it a lot," Dekkenga said.

Once messages start to flow, Dekkenga welcomes feedback from Nixle users -- what they like and don't like about the program.

"I think the further we get into it, the more uses we'll find," he said.