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Thousand Oaks Police Department to utilize “Nextdoor”, the Private Social Network, to Facilitate Virtual Neighborhood Watch
By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
 Ventura County Sheriff's Department In an effort to facilitate a virtual Neighborhood Watch program and help foster neighbor-to-neighbor communications, the Thousand Oaks Police Department has partnered with Nextdoor (www.nextdoor.com), the first private social network for neighborhoods. Nextdoor is free for residents and for the City. Each neighborhood creates its own private Nextdoor website, accessible only to residents of that neighborhood. Thousand Oaks residents can use Nextdoor to get to know their neighbors, ask questions, and exchange local advice and recommendations. Neighbors who use Nextdoor share information about neighborhood watch and safety issues, local events, school activities, plumber and babysitter recommendations, upcoming garage sales, lost pets, and much more. Neighborhoods establish and self-manage their own Nextdoor website. Information shared on each Nextdoor site is only visible to members who live in the neighborhood and who have verified their address. The Thousand Oaks Police Department will be able to post important information, such as crimes occurring in a specific neighborhood within the city. The Police Department will not be able to access communications between neighbors or other private content. In today’s society, it is vital for neighbors to come together and look out for one another. Nextdoor will make it easy for neighbors to establish a virtual neighborhood watch and help combat crime and foster positive interactions with neighbors and the police. The Thousand Oaks Police Department uses several social media tools to communicate critical information to the community. Nixle, Twitter and VC Alert are our primary tools used to disseminate information. Nextdoor will serve as an additional social media outreach to the residents of Thousand Oaks. Nextdoor was specifically designed to make neighbors feel comfortable sharing information with one another in order to help build stronger communities. All members must verify they live within the neighborhood. Information shared on Nextdoor is password protected and cannot be accessed by those outside the neighborhood or found on Google or other search engines. In addition, Nextdoor never shares personal information with any third parties. Unlike an email list or other online group, neighbor posts are organized and archived for future reference. If you are interested in joining Nextdoor visit their website at www.nextdoor.com and enter your home address. If Nextdoor is already launched in your area, you can immediately sign up. If your neighborhood has not yet been established, set up your neighborhood and encourage neighbors join. If you have questions about the Nextdoor program or how to get started, please contact Justine Fenwick, Senior City Strategist with Nextdoor at 650-996-3801 or justine@nextdoor.com. For Thousand Oaks Police Department Neighborhood Watch questions, please contact Senior Deputy Tim Lohman at (805) 371-8362 or tim.lohman@ventura.org. Nature of Incident: Thousand Oaks Police Department to utilize “Nextdoor”, the Private Social Network, to Facilitate Virtual Neighborhood Watch Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS |
