A new way to interact with police: texting
A creepy scene played out last summer at Sunset Meadows Park in Arlington Heights.
On July 29, police say, a man impersonating a Lakemoor police officer approached a boy in the park, flashed a badge that read "Lakemoor Patrol Man," said he loved children and wanted to talk to them.
The man briefly left the area and returned, saying he needed to talk to other children, then finally drove off in a station wagon.
A pair of callers alerted the Arlington Heights Police Department, which then posted an alert on its Citizen Observer Web site, through which its 1,400 subscribers either viewed it online or read it through e-mails and text messages on their cell phones.
The next day, the man reappeared at the park. This time a man recognized the impersonator and his car from the e-mailed alert.
He called police, who arrested the man on a charge of impersonating a police officer, a felony. Turns out the man had been a Lakemoor officer from 1993 through 1999. He is due back in court on March 22.
Police, meanwhile, credit Citizen Observer for leading them to their man.
"That probably was our best one," Arlington Heights Sgt. Tom Seleski said of results his town has seen from the Web-based tool that helps police departments in many states communicate with their residents. "We anticipate bigger and better things with it ahead."
Several police departments in the Northwest suburbs use Internet-based programs - Citizen Observer and Nixle - to send e-mail and text alerts to the people who sign up to receive them. Examples of items posted include local scams, bank robberies, Halloween safety tips, unsolved crimes and recent arrests.
In turn, subscribers can send anonymous crime tips to their local law enforcement agency through the Citizen Observer Web site, via text message and, in some cases, through their town's Web site.
Police say it's one more way to connect with more residents, particularly tech-savvy young people, neighbors who are already paying attention to what's going on in the community, and residents on the go.
Yet most still opt to pick up the phone and dial 911.
"I think it seems to be the easiest thing, saying, 'Hey, this is a bad guy,'" Elgin Police Lt. Sean Rafferty said.
While Arlington Heights has a dramatic success story on its hands, other towns across the Northwest suburbs are reporting mixed results.
Elgin has used the text-messaging component of Citizen Observer since July and police typically get drug-related text message tips, which are forwarded to the department's drug unit.
But one September text message tipped Elgin police to a resident wanted for attempted murder in another state. Elgin forwarded that tip to the investigating state and let them take it from there, Rafferty said.
As far as Internet and phone alerts go, Elgin uses Nixle, a free, one-way service that sends crime alerts to your phone and posts them to the Nixle Web site.
Recently, Elgin posted an alert about a man who is a suspect in the city's first homicide of 2010 and is thought to be armed and dangerous.
Some departments find that the programs are useful in other ways, even if they don't lead to any arrests.
For example, Lake in the Hills police officers used Citizen Observer over the summer to keep the momentum going from a community meeting about gang-related violence that was taking place in one of its neighborhoods, said Mary Frake, the department's chief of support services.
Three days after the meeting, police posted an alert announcing increased patrols to the area because one of the suspected gang members police recently arrested had bonded out of jail.
"I think it kept their awareness up that it wasn't just a meeting and then you forget about it," Frake said. "It was a reminder."
Still others have dropped Citizen Observer, due to budgetary concerns or for lack of interest from the public.
The latter was the case for the Gurnee Police Department, said Tom Agos, who is in charge of the department's crime prevention programs and said officials are evaluating whether to keep it.
"The marketing muscle wasn't linked to the program, so the word didn't really get out very well," he said. "It's just not taken off."
Carol Stream police already have several ways to reach residents, including a local AM radio station and CityWatch Vista, a program that sends robocalls and faxes to relay important messages to all listed residents and businesses about emergencies, crime alerts and other things of importance to the community, said Lt. Hunter Gilmore.
But after two years of using the Citizen Observer, officials decided they would rather save the $780 they spent on it annually and adopt Nixle for free.
Aurora is in the same boat.
For three years, Aurora spent $3,000 a year on Citizen Observer. It is now is phasing out the service, after dramatic budgetary concessions the police department recently made to avoid layoffs, police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said.
It, too, has turned to Nixle.
"Citizen Observer was great for expanding our communication directly with our citizens," Ferrelli said.
"As we broaden the use of this type of technology, we think it's going to be even more valuable in some of the communication that we have with some of our citizens."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Who's on alert?</p>
<p class="News">To sign up for alerts in your town or to see whether your town is participating, visit <a href="http://www.citizenobserver.com/registration" target="new">www.citizenobserver.com/registration</a> or <a href="http://www.nixle.com/register" target="new">www.nixle.com/register</a>.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Arlington Heights:</b> To text an anonymous tip to Arlington Heights officers, text 847AHPD, then your tip. After that, send it to TIP411. </p>
<p class="News"><b>Elgin:</b> Text ELGINPD, type your tip and send it to TIP411 (847411).</p>
<p class="News"><b>Lake in the Hills:</b> Text LITH and your tip to TIP411 (847411). Point your browser to <a href="http://www.lith.org" target="new">www.lith.org</a> to submit it from the village's site. </p>
<p class="News">• Meanwhile, police departments in the following towns have accounts with Nixle: Carpentersville, Carol Stream, Darien, Elgin, Fox River Grove, Geneva, Libertyville, North Aurora, Park Ridge, Pingree Grove and Villa Park.</p>