Rialto Police Chief advises public to utilize Nixle for timely, accurate updates

During the virtual Rialto City Council meeting on April 14, Mayor Deborah Robertson and other members of the council discussed which tools and resources are best to keep the community informed during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

“Can I get an answer in regard to whether or not there is anyone monitoring Rialto’s social media for those of us who do try to keep up with the dialogue in our community,” asked Robertson.

The mayor’s question was in regard to the high volume of Rialto residents utilizing the neighborhood social media application Nextdoor, and not always spreading the correct information to other users.

“As far as monitoring Nextdoor, we do not monitor it; we occasionally look at it when someone forwards us a notification of a conversation on that platform. The Rialto Police Department is utilizing Nixle and RialtoPolice.com to provide timely information to the community. At the police department’s website, you can find all of our platforms that we utilize, including Instagram and Twitter,” said Mark P. Kling, Chief of Police.

“I am a little hesitant to begin monitoring Nextdoor because some of the information people put out on Nextdoor is not consistent or accurate, it’s problematic. It becomes a concern for us because that platform was initially set up for neighbors to communicate with one another and network, it’s not so much for the government or law enforcement to engage in; we generally do not respond to it, unless it is absolutely necessary,” Kling said.

Although the police department does not find Nextdoor as a useful communicative platform, the agency highly encourages residents to sign up for Nixle alerts.

“In the midst of the current COVID-19 public health crisis, the police department will start doing a better job at advertising Nixle and our other platforms, it’s important to provide this resource to the public on how they can sign up for Nixle alerts and provide them with timely information from the council, the police department and more,” said Kling.

Robertson then asked what type of communique residents can expect to receive from Nixle.

“With Nixle you can sign up for alerts. We send out all of our press releases and all types of information to the community, in addition to text messages and emails. You do not need to be a part for the media to access or utilize Nixle,” concluded Kling. To sign up for Nixle, visit Nixle.com and visit RialtoPolice.com for more information.