Villa Park cops texting residents about crime, other matters

Villa Park police are now texting crime alerts and other messages directly to residents.

The police department this week started using a new communications service to deliver messages instantly, either villagewide or specifically targeted to residents living within a quarter-mile radius of where an incident occurred.

The service - Nixle - is the same one used by the Chicago Police Department and several suburban departments, including Addison, Aurora and Glen Ellyn.

Residents may sign up through a link on the village's website at invillapark.com or at www.nixle.com.

Nixle is free for the village. Residents pay standard text messaging rates when they receive a text, but can choose to be notified by e-mail instead.

"Given the number of people who do have cell phones or e-mail out there, if there's a free option, we obviously have to take a look at it and run with it," said Eric Dubrowski, interim village manager.

Other village departments will also use Nixle to inform residents of community events and other happenings. Unlike Twitter, there's no limit to the amount of text.

Residents may also choose to register with Nixle and access messages directly from the website instead of by text or e-mail.

Villa Park Police Chief John G. Heidelmeir encourages all residents to sign up, but especially members of community watch groups.

Messages may include missing person reports, traffic alerts and safety information.