Website provides residents a 'virtual neighborhood watch'
The Austin Police Department is using technology that combines traditional neighborhood watch tactics with modern social media interface as a way to reduce crime throughout the city.
In December the city of Austin, including APD, partnered with private social media networking site Nextdoor.com to disseminate information to specific residential areas and to encourage people to get to know their neighbors. APD recently launched Nextdoor accounts for areas including North Austin.
"In order to have an impact [on crime] in neighborhoods, neighbors have to know their neighbors," APD Commander Donald Baker said. "What Nextdoor does, that virtual platform now gives that connection to the neighbors where they start introducing themselves. They start exchanging ideas."
'Virtual neighborhood watch'
San Francisco–based Nextdoor.com launched two years ago and allows users to set up individual profiles and join websites specifically created for their neighborhood for free. All content on the site is categorized, allowing users to communicate on topics pertaining to their residential area, including safety and crime.
"We didn't really realize at the beginning how essential it would become for crime and safety," Nextdoor Head of Communications Kelsey Grady said. "Now 20 percent of content on the Nextdoor platform across the country is related to crime and safety issues. We've really seen, and our neighborhoods have told us this, that Nextdoor is virtual neighborhood watch."
Nextdoor verifies all user addresses by sending postcards to their residences, calling home phone numbers or comparing information with credit card billing addresses. If a home is registered in the U.S. Department of Justice's national sex offender database, the resident is denied an account. Information shared on the site can only be seen by users who have Nextdoor accounts and are in the same residential area, Grady said.
Of the 800 neighborhoods in the Greater Austin area with websites through Nextdoor, 140 are located in Northwest Austin. More than 700 posts have been related to crime and safety in Northwest Austin, according to Nextdoor. Companywide, about 30,000 neighborhoods use the site, and on average, about 60 new neighborhoods launch a website per day.
Jill Goodman, marketing and communications consultant for the city of Austin, said that although Nextdoor serves as a supplemental way for the city and APD to communicate information, residents should still report crimes by calling 311 or 911.
"Nextdoor allows us to reach thousands of residents in our city that we really wouldn't have another way to reach or be able to reach quickly and efficiently," she said. "For Nextdoor users, they have the ability to get information from the city that is hopefully useful to them."
APD primarily uses the website to post information about topics such as commander's forums, community meetings with APD and crime alerts.
Police do not have access to specific neighborhood accounts and therefore cannot see any resident postings. APD uses other methods to relay information to residents such as crime alerts through Citizen Observer, but using Nextdoor allows the department to target specific neighborhoods, said Jennifer Herber, APD senior public information specialist.
"We're really trying to target and give them hyperlocal news in each region," she said.
Anderson Mill resident Susan Reed said Nextdoor is useful to learn about incidents such as a man exposing himself near local schools. She said reducing crime is a collaborative effort between neighbors and police.
"From my standpoint, citizens have as much responsibility as the police department has to work on controlling their crime," Reed said. "Yes, it's true that people are not doing that—getting to know their neighbors as much as they used to—but I think that is beginning to change. It's because people have realized that they do need to get to know the people that live around them simply from a safety aspect if nothing else."
Reed said she is worried about crime potentially moving north as Austin continues to grow, similar to when prevalent prostitution and drug crimes began to move out of areas on South Congress Avenue and into Rundberg Lane.
Anticrime efforts in North Austin
One of the areas with the most crime in North Central Austin is near Rundberg Lane. There have been 457 reported thefts, 12 reported rapes and 42 aggravated assaults reported in the Rundberg area in 2014 so far, according to APD.
In May 2012, APD was awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for a project called Restore Rundberg, which began in January 2013. The goal is to reduce crime and improve the quality of life in the area encompassed by US 183, Anderson Lane, I-35, Cameron Road, Braker Lane and Rutland Drive.
The three-year grant provides funding for research, increased police enforcement and community outreach to devise a sustainable, long-term solution for improving the area.
Baker said part of the city's plan for Restore Rundberg is to increase police foot patrols and to talk to residents about their concerns.
At a Feb. 27 meeting, the project's Revitalization Team delivered a list of top priorities for the area, including the development of a community health center, increasing after-school programs for youth and improving accountability for housing and property code violations.
The team comprises residents from the Gracywoods, North Austin Civic Association, North Lamar, Georgian Acres, Windsor Hills and Wooldridge neighborhoods.
The University of Texas is also collaborating on the project by conducting research to find out information such as how people feel about their neighbors, the police and addressing crime. Increasing collective efficacy—defined as cohesion and trust among members of a community and their willingness to intervene to control crime and maintain public order—is one of the Restore Rundberg goals to help reduce criminal activity, said David Springer, UT's distinguished teaching professor in the school of social work.
"The philosophy behind getting to know your neighbor is sort of the social network approach," he said. "With the social network approach, you don't have to have every neighbor know every single other neighbor, but if you can get each neighbor to know two or three of their neighbors, then you've increased social cohesion and collective efficacy."
