The Minden Police Department is now taking part in the community-safety app called Neighbors by Ring. The Neighbors by Ring app issues real-time crime and safety alerts to communities.
“The Neighbors App uses your address to create a radius around your home. If anyone shares an alert on the app about crime or safety within that radius, you’ll get a notification on your phone and tablet. Conversely, if you share an alert on the app about a crime or safety issue in your radius, your neighbors will also get a notification on their phones and tablets. You can then comment on these alerts to provide additional information about local issues, give tips to avoid affected areas, share photos or videos to help neighbors stay on the lookout, etc.,” says the Neighbors by Ring website.
Having the Minden Police Department participating means that your alerts will not only be coming from other Neighbors, but from a department that can provide pertinent facts. “The Minden Police Department can view what local residents have posted publicly to Neighbors and can now chime-in with relevant updates or safety alerts to help residents stay informed,” said the Facebook post from the Minden Police Association.
In other places the app has been used to help stop strings of car break-ins and package thefts as well as reuniting missing pets with their owners. If used correctly, this could allow the people of Minden to be easily made aware of changing situations in their neighborhoods.
It is important to remember that this is not intended as a way to contact the police with information or for emergencies. The app is designed to allow neighbors to alert neighbors; for the police, this will allow them to disperse information to the specific areas that are affected.
If you have information about a crime to report, please call the Minden Police Department at (318) 377-1212, and if there is an emergency, call 911.