By FRANK ANDRUSCAVAGE
MINERSVILLE - Borough police have a new tool at their disposal to alert residents of emergency situations.
Police began using the Nixle Connect system last week to get the word about situations out to anyone residents and nonresidents capable of receiving either text messages or emails. The department is one of several in the county, including Orwigsburg, Schuylkill Haven and Port Carbon, making use of new media to inform the public.
Minersville police Chief Michael Combs said Minersville opted into the service at no cost to the department or the borough. Anyone subscribing to receive the messages does so free of charge, unless a fee is attached through their cellphone or Internet provider for text messages or emails.
Nixle is a professional-grade mass communications system allowing police to communicate directly with a geographically specific portion of the communities they serve, Combs said. More than 4,600 public safety agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, use the system as a method to provide vital information almost instantly, he said.
Using an example, Combs said if a child is reported missing, police, either from the station, a computer in a police cruiser or am officer's cellular telephones, can alert those who signed up for the service. In turn, anyone receiving the message can keep an eye out for the missing child.
"What you will have is maybe a hundred people looking for that child instead of just three or four police officers," he said.
In one documented case, Combs said an intoxicated father left his vehicle with his 3-year-old son asleep and strapped in his safety seat. While away from the car, the man was arrested by Pasadena, Calif., police for public intoxication and forgot about his son.
Combs said when the mother hadn't heard from either of the two for hours, she began calling police stations in an attempt to locate them. After learning of the missing toddler, police issued an alert and a resident who received the message on his mobile telephone used the information to locate the child, Combs said.
"We think it's a great program," he said. "We're kind of excited about it ⦠it's a way to get the word out because we are an information society."
Anyone wishing to sign up to receive messages can simply "888-777" from their cellphone and type "yes." When a reply is received, reply with "minerscops" and send the message.
A new message will appear saying "MINERSCOPS: Thanks for signing up!"
Combs said people can also log onto www.nixle.com, enter the zip code and go to "sign up now." From that point, follow the instructions to become a subscriber, he said.
"It's simple, it takes 30 seconds to register," the chief said.
Combs said his department put the word out about the program that included placing flyers throughout the borough and handing them out door-to-door in an attempt to get residents to sign up.
Combs said he hopes other police departments or public service agencies will take advantage of the program and sign up.
Combs said anyone having difficulty signing up for the service or those simply needing more information can call Minersville police at 570-544-6212.