Westfield Offering Ward Specific Security Alerts

WESTFIELD, NJ - A recent uptick in burglaries has led to the Westfield Police offering zoned text message alerts of security updates based off of what ward they live in. These new Nixle-based messages are the latest in a series of initiatives officials hope will help put resident's minds at ease.

"As many of you know, Westfield has experienced a recent spate of home and vehicle burglaries, and it is of course understandable that affected and nearby residents are upset by these crimes," Mayor Shelley Brindle said. "While many are rightfully alarmed that some of these burglaries happened while people were in their homes, they aren’t indicative of a larger crime wave in our town based upon these facts: In 2017, there were 16 residential burglaries in Westfield; year-to-date in 2018, there have been 10. And while these numbers show the trend is similar for home burglaries year over year, we do know that vehicular burglaries have increased significantly."

Brindle said nobody deserves to feel unsafe in their own homes, and nobody deserves the violation of having anything stolen and offered three safety steps she encouraged residents to take:

1. Crime prevention is a partnership: Yes, we must all take common sense measures to protect our homes and vehicles, like locking doors/windows/garages and reconsidering hide-a-keys. But as we've seen, even these steps are not always enough to prevent crime. While residents do their part, the Westfield Police Department is diligently working in parallel with increased patrolling in recently affected areas, as well as the aggressive pursuit of all leads in the investigation of these cases. If you see anything suspicious in your neighborhood, please notify the police immediately at 908-789-4000.
2. Communication is key: We heard from several residents that they would like to be notified about crimes affecting their neighborhoods more quickly. We will be using Nixle for this purpose, and have re-formatted this service to be broken down in a more localized manner, so that residents can subscribe to updates specific to their ward from this point forward.
3. Community updates: There was also discussion at our Town Council meeting about gathering concerned residents to meet with myself, Acting Chief Battiloro and Town Council members to collaborate on other ideas of mutual interest. There is a neighborhood meeting in the works for Ward 1, and I'd certainly welcome other wards to gather for similar purposes.

In order to sign up for the new Nixle alerts, Brindle said residents must text the following keyword for your ward to 888777:

• Ward 1: 07090WARD1
• Ward 2: 07090WARD2
• Ward 3: 07090WARD3
• Ward 4: 07090WARD4

At this time, the ward-segmented Nixle alerts are only available via text, and not by email. Brindle said a previous registration with Nixle to receive town-wide information will remain in place unless users unsubscribe from that registration.

"You may certainly opt to keep both if you'd like," Brindle said. "We believe that segmenting the Nixle alerts in this manner is beneficial not only for crime prevention/awareness purposes, but also for other needs going forward such as road closures and more localized events."

Brindle also said she has received feedback from several residents who encountered difficulty registering with certain cell phone carriers. Details on how to resolve that issue can be found here on the Nixle site.

In addition to Nixle, residents have information channels are available to them, such as the Facebook pages for both the Town of Westfield and the Westfield Police Department.

"In fact, the WPD has just launched a social media campaign called #9PMroutine, which reminds everyone nightly to lock their homes and vehicles as a matter of routine," Brindle said.

Brindle said as a resident for almost a quarter century she wants everyone to feel safe in the wonderful town they call home.

"The reality is that crime has no borders, and while eye opening, these recent incidents are not exclusive to Westfield," Brindle said. "That said, I remain committed to working together with the community to ensuring we take the necessary steps to keep crime prevention, communication and partnership moving forward to address this issue."

(Photo courtesy of Shelley Brindle)

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