NORFOLK, Va. (NPD) – The Norfolk Police Department just completed two successful years of its partnership with Nextdoor (nextdoor.com), the free and private social network for neighborhoods. The partnership was established to improve citywide and neighbor-to-neighbor communications as well as increase participation in neighborhood watch.
The Norfolk Police Department partnered with Nextdoor in November 2014 to provide another citywide and neighbor-to-neighbor communications channel. Now there are more than 115 Norfolk neighborhoods, totaling over 17,000 residents, who use Nextdoor.
In November of 2015, the Norfolk Police Department launched a new feature on Nextdoor which allows citizens to forward their Crime & Safety posts and Urgent Alerts on Nextdoor directly to the department.
“Our police department is committed to serving our residents and making their concerns around crime and safety a top priority,” said Chief Larry Boone. “With Forward to Police, residents can now alert us directly about Crime and Safety posts and Urgent Alerts in their Nextdoor neighborhoods. Together, we can make Norfolk an even better place to call home.”
Nextdoor is free for residents and the department. Each Norfolk neighborhood has its own private Nextdoor neighborhood website, accessible only to residents of that neighborhood. All members must verify that they live within the neighborhood before joining Nextdoor and information shared on Nextdoor is password protected.
Neighborhoods establish and self-manage their own Nextdoor website and the department cannot access residents’ websites, contact information, or content, unless it is a Crime and Safety post or Urgent Alert that is forwarded to them by the poster via Forward to Police.
Nextdoor, and the Forward to Police feature, is not an emergency reporting system, but a way for residents to share relevant content that they are posting on Nextdoor with their police department, such as criminal activity in the neighborhood, potentially criminal activity, and safety concerns. Residents are encouraged to call 911 in the case of an emergency.
Those interested in joining their neighborhood’s Nextdoor website can visit www.nextdoor.com and enter their address.
Public agencies interested in joining Nextdoor can visit nextdoor.com/agency to get started.
If residents have questions about their Nextdoor website, please visit help.nextdoor.com.