Goshen Twp. gets word out

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Cp. Brenda Golec of the Goshen Police Department, which covers Goshen, Beloit and Green, sits in the passenger seat of the P.D.'s new Chevy Tahoe where she can access www.nixle.com to get updated on traffic changes, accidents or crimes for free. Or through free text messages. Tuesday June 30, 2009 Lisa-Ann Ishihara

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Cpl. Rob Wittensoldner of the Goshen Police Department holds his Iphone to display the free text messages he's received via www.nixle.com, which is a free provider of internet access and text messages to up-to-date postings of traffic changes, accidents or crime. Goshen P.D. covers Goshen, Beloit and Green. Tuesday June 30, 2009 Lisa-Ann Ishihara

By Denise Dick

The service is free to residents and the police department.

GOSHEN — Worried about traffic? Concerned about whether the a neighbor’s broken window is a fluke or part of a pattern by local vandals? Get that information and other alerts sent to you by e-mail, Internet or text message from police.

Goshen police, covering Goshen and Green townships and Beloit Village, just started using Nixle.com, a community information service.

“Columbiana County EMA is the only other entity in the tri-county area that I found that’s signed up to use it,” said Cpl. Brenda Golec.

She found information about Nixle.com while researching grants for the department.

The service, which is free to residents and police, delivers neighborhood-level public-safety and community event notifications by Web, e-mail and cellular phone.

The department registered as a user about a week ago and has distributed six such bulletins or alerts in that time.

“My goal is to keep people notified of what’s going on,” said Chief James D. Willock.

The department sends out quarterly newsletters to residents, informing them of police activities and other information. But because that comes out only quarterly, that information isn’t timely.

The Nixle.com system also is useful for police as residents, informed through the alerts, can help them by providing information, Willock said.

The site doesn’t provide information about the number of resident users or their locations, but Golec said she’s received several phone calls from people inquiring about it.

To sign up, visit Nixle.com and follow the instructions provided. Users must provide an address and user name and password to register.

The police department can send out information about stolen cars, closed roads, accidents that cause traffic tie-ups or crime trends.

“We had a car that was stolen out of Beloit in early June and it got stuck on the railroad tracks,” Golec said.

Had the service been in use then, the department could have distributed information about the vehicle and people who witnessed the thieves bail out of the car could have shared details with police right away.

“People are much more apt to speak up if they know something is wrong, rather than they just suspect it,” Golec said.

It’s also useful in cases of missing people, allowing the department to communicate a description of the individual as well as a photograph.

“I think it’s important for residents to know what their police departments are doing,” Golec said.

The system also cuts down on misinformation spread by word of mouth.

“It only comes from us,” Golec said. “It’s only from the police department, so you’re not getting misinformation.”

She hopes that other departments also opt to use the program. That way, the departments could work together even more closely, knowing about what one another is working on at a particular time to help out.

The program enables the department to send alerts from within a half-mile to a 20-mile radius of where something occurs so that the alerts may be tailored to specific areas when applicable.

denise_dick@vindy.com