Montgomery Police Team Up With Local Neighborhoods Online

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It might look like just another social media site, but nextdoor.com offers closed communities online so you can see what’s going on in your neighborhood.

There are over 100 communities represented, and now police are getting involved to help keep areas safe.

“You know for us, where a resident might see something suspicious, a resident might hesitate no matter what we tell them to call 911. But with next door they don’t hesitate to post anything and everything and because we have access to surrounding neighbors, we can get the word out real quick,” said Breanda Duos, who lives in the County Downs community.

And that’s exactly what Montgomery Police want to tap into.

Public Safety Director Chris Murphy made the announcement that they’re teaming up with the neighborhoods, and he says he’s very excited.

“It allows us to not monitor them, we cannot monitor their lost cat or who owes homeowner’s association dues or those kind of things, but it allows us to have another means to communicate with the public,” said Murphy.

After the police shooting that led to the death of Greg Gunn a few weeks ago, getting closer to the community is even more important for MPD.

Director Murphy says this isn’t the first time his office has tried something new to bridge the gap between police and the public.

“If we see new technology, if we see a new idea we want to be involved in it. We want to accomplish that on every north south east and west, every part of the community. If there’s a way we can do it better, we want to do that,” said Murphy.