the nextdoor 21st century community policing engagement roadmap
TRANSCRIPT
The Nextdoor 21st Century
Community Policing Engagement Roadmap
October 1st, 2015 Prepared by: Joseph Porcelli Senior City Strategist & Professional Neighbor Nextdoor.com [email protected] (857) 222-4420 @JosephPorcelli
Table of Contents
Executive summary About Nextdoor and Nextdoor for Public Agencies Neighborhood engagement improves outcomes Engagement objectives to aim for and track Proven strategies and tactics Conclusion Partner stories and media coverage Roadmap credits
Joseph Porcelli | Senior City Strategist & Professional Neighbor | Nextdoor.com
[email protected] | (857) 2224420 | @JosephPorcelli
Executive Summary Law enforcement agencies across the United States are working diligently to implement the recommendations outlined in the final report on the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing which is aimed at increasing trust and collaboration between the community and the police. At the same time, agencies are faced with rising crime rates and building pressure. To compound the problem, the current approach to neighborhoodfocused community engagement and crime prevention is both resource intensive and timeconsuming. While the current approach engages those who attend community meetings and participate in neighborhood watch groups, it leaves out the majority of citizens whose engagement and partnership is critical to decreasing crime. How then can neighborhoodbased community policing officers communicate and partner at scale with the vast majority of residents who often can’t attend weekly meetings because they are busy with other life, work, and family responsibilities? The answer is Nextdoor! Nextdoor is the private social network for neighborhoods being used by neighbors in more than 75,000 neighborhoods (over 44% of all U.S. neighborhoods). Nextdoor communities are started by concerned residents who want to connect with their neighbors and talk about the issues that matter most to them. As such, these are true grassroots communities started by the neighbors themselves and used to discuss a wide range of neighborhood topics. Nextdoor for Public Agencies, our free communications platform for local government, is used by over 600 law enforcement agencies to facilitate virtual neighborhood watch, and as a community policing digital neighborhood engagement platform. When Nextdoor is adopted by residents and public agencies, it creates a powerful combination that can improve communitypolice relations, build trust, and lead to decreases in crime, the fear of crime, and complaints. The content of the Nextdoor 21st Century Community Policing Engagement Roadmap, coauthored by Nextdoor public agency partners and staff, offers a path to aid law enforcement agencies to effectively and efficiently engage their communities at the neighborhood level where relations matter most and real progress is made. Our goal is to help law enforcement agencies better implement the recommendations laid out by the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing Report and to attain their department’s community policing outcomes. Law enforcement agencies that wish to start using Nextdoor for Public Agencies in their community may sign up for free at Nextdoor.com/agency.
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About Nextdoor and Nextdoor for Public Agencies What is Nextdoor? Nextdoor is the private social network for neighborhoods used in over 75,000 neighborhoods, representing 44% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Social networks have become mainstream and used to connect us to many important parts of our lives, including friends and family, professional connections and interests. However, before Nextdoor, there was no social network for the part of our lives closest to home the neighborhood. Nextdoor set out to change this by launching in 2011.
Neighbors appreciate Nextdoor because each neighbor must first verify their address before they can access their private neighborhood social network. With this added level of security, Nextdoor has become the lifeline to the neighborhood. Every Nextdoor neighborhood is created
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and managed by concerned neighborsa process which facilitates each Nextdoor neighborhood being a true grassroots representation of its community. On Nextdoor, members talk about everyday things like finding a great babysitter, more personal things like locating a lost pet or requesting a helping hand, or critical matters like discussing crime in their neighborhood or an approaching severe storm.
Our motto at Nextdoor is “when neighbors start talking, good things happen.” In addition to being the lifeline to the neighborhood, Nextdoor serves as a critical civic infrastructure that empowers citizens to determine the success of their communities and partner with government agencies to make their neighborhoods safer, stronger, and more resilient. Depending on the needs of neighbors in a neighborhood, Nextdoor can be used in a variety of ways that are both helpful and critical.
Icon credit flaticon.com
At the request of our members, we built Nextdoor for Public Agencies to make it possible for neighbors to receive messages and engage with the police officers who serve and keep them safe. At the same time, Nextdoor maintains the privacy of members and the content they share with their neighbors. In September 2014, we officially announced Nextdoor for Public Agencies. What is Nextdoor for Public Agencies? Nextdoor for Public Agencies is a free, location based, communications platform that law
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enforcement agencies can use to facilitate virtual neighborhood watch and as a community policing digital neighborhood engagement platform. With access, authorized staff can post messages and engage verifiedresident members in one, many, or all of their service area’s neighbordefined Nextdoor neighborhoods. They may also engage member via agencydefined geographic areas such as districts or sectors. As you can see in the image below, an officer from the Los Angeles Police Department has targeted a post into three neighborhoods by clicking on them in the map interface in the post flow.
The ability to geographically target specific messages to actual residents and engage directly with them creates a powerful collaboration between residents (and not just the Neighborhood Watch members and those who attend community meetings) and a police department’s neighborhoodbased community policing officers and command staff. Messages shared via Nextdoor for Public Agencies can inform and educate members as well as activate members to take actions that prevent and reduce crime and the fear of crime. The result of this collaboration improves communitypolice relations, builds trust, and leads to decreases in crime, the fear of crime, and complaints.
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Law enforcement agencies appreciate the capabilities:
Every Nextdoor neighborhood is started and managed by neighbors Nextdoor members are verified residents who genuinely want to improve quality of life
and increase safety On Nextdoor, neighbors are already talking to each other about crime and safety
concerns Nextdoor facilitates residentdriven community building and facilitates virtual
neighborhood watch at the neighborhood level Nextdoor for Public Agencies democratizes information and communication by enabling
direct twoway communication between officers and the residents they serve Nextdoor for Public Agencies makes it possible for neighborhood based community
policing officers to reach hundreds or thousands of residents beyond those who show up at neighborhood meetings and participate in Neighborhood Watch
There is no cost, contract, MOU or procurement required What challenges does Nextdoor help neighbors overcome? Nextdoor overcomes the barriers to engagement of busyness, apathy, and fear by offering a safe, private, and secure platform where neighbors who might not otherwise cross paths feel safe to connect and communicate with one another. What challenges does Nextdoor for Public Agencies help law enforcement agencies overcome? Before Nextdoor for Public Agencies was created, conducting targeted digital outreach to verified citizens in their neighborhoods, police districts, or beats was nearly impossible. With access to social media platforms typically limited to the Public Information Office, neighborhood commanders and community policing officers have few digital tools with which to communicate with the citizens they serve.
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While some departments have amassed large social media followings, these communications do not often result in meaningful daytoday engagement at the neighborhood level because there is not a way to target messages to specific neighborhoods or geographic areas. Adding to this, reach and engagement is limited unless the department pays to play by “boosting” their post. Also, these platforms do not facilitate community building at the neighborhood levela critical component for effective community policing. Additionally, the majority of the content shared is not neighborhoodspecific and does not direct or leverage citizens as forcemultipliers, to take actions and change behaviors to deter or report suspicious behavior or crime. Also, we hear from our partners that 2050% of their “followers” do not live in their cities or towns. Finally, building a robust digital audience is challenging–especially for agencies that are already overwhelmed and may lack the experience and resources to do so effectively. With Nextdoor, membership grows and is supplemented by an agency’s use and promotion of the platform. It is not uncommon for departments to see their membership double each year. The police cannot decrease crime on their own, and neither can the handful of neighbors who are typically involved. Nextdoor dramatically expands those engaged in active crime prevention beyond the five or ten people who show up at a community meeting to 100’s or 1,000’s of citizens who are otherwise hard to reach and engage. How do I sign my agency up for Nextdoor for Public Agencies? Law enforcement agencies who wish to begin using Nextdoor for Public Agencies may sign up for free and unrestricted access at Nextdoor.com/agency.
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Neighborhood engagement improves outcomes Law enforcement agencies understand the vital role that community policing plays in making neighborhoods safer and stronger and to develop relationships and increase trust. For the purpose of the roadmap, let’s first take a moment to examine the outcomes agencies are working towards: Community policing engagement outcomes:
1. Prevent and reduce crime and the fear of crime 2. Improve community relations and increase trust 3. Increase the sense of community and power among neighbors 4. Provide meaningful opportunities for neighbors to build community, collaborate
with police, and engage and support vulnerable populations 5. Decrease complaints
To attain these outcomes, five key engagement ingredients are necessary. These five ingredients are depicted below as the neighborhood engagement formula. By increasing the total number of neighbors and police officers who are connecting, communicating, sharing information, collaboratively taking action, and celebrating their success, Law enforcement agencies can dramatically accelerate the advancement towards their community policing engagement outcomes.
Neighborhood engagement ingredients:
Connection + Communication + Information sharing + Collaborative action + Celebration
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Engagement objectives to aim for and track
With the above outcomes in mind, Nextdoor offers the below objectives to aim for track. Progress on each of these objectives bring department’s closer to their community policing outcomes.
Increase connection, communication, and information sharing Increase the number of neighbors who:
Are connected and in communication with each other in their neighborhoods Receive neighborhood specific, relevant, accurate, and timely information from
neighborhood based community policing officers with whom they may choose to engage in conversation on Nextdoor
Call 911 and submit tips to the police or via designated channels such as Crime Stoppers
Increase collaborative action Increase the number of neighbors who:
Attend community meetings and trainings Start and participate in Neighborhood Watch groups Register for Police Citizens Academy and other programs Participate in or lead neighborhood clean ups, prayer groups, and exercise walks Give input on new ideas, programs, services, and the strategic plan
Celebrate progress Increase the number of neighbors, partners, and staff who:
Are recognized for their contributions Coordinate and/or attend block parties, awards celebrations, and other
neighborly activities or celebratory events such as National Night Out
Nextdoor for Public Agencies offers a robust “Map and Metrics” feature that allows partners to measure membership growth and engagement with their posts. Other metrics such as tips submitted, complaints, and decreases in crime are attained independently of Nextdoor for Public Agencies.
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Proven strategies and tactics The following four strategies and tactics will help agencies attain their community policing outcomes.
1. Use technology to communicate with neighbors where they are already talking 2. Increase reach and engagement by leveraging points of contact 3. Activate and empower residents to build community in enjoyable and sustainable ways 4. Promote other agency and community resources to holistically support residents 5. Spend time facetoface with members of the community
As the neighborhood engagement objectives of building connections, increasing communications, sharing information, acting collaboratively, and celebrating progress are attained, agencies get closer to their community policing outcomes.
Strategy 1: Use technology to communicate with neighbors where they are already talking Given that neighbors are using Nextdoor in over 75,000 neighborhoods around the U.S., our recommendation is for your agency to leverage Nextdoor for Public Agencies, our free government interface, as your community policing digital neighborhood engagement platform to engage your residents.
Your neighborhoodbased community policing officers, supervisors, and command staff will be able to target posts to and have conversations with Nextdoor members in one, many, or all Nextdoor neighborhoods or agency defined areas.
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This ability to geographically target your communication and engage residents in twoway conversations is an important strategy your department can use to reach your community policing engagement goals. How to get started: Sign up for free access to Nextdoor for Public Agencies at https://nextdoor.com/agency. If you have questions feel free to send an email to the agency team at [email protected]. You can also find helpful instructions, such as our getting started guide, best practices, and training materials at http://agencysupport.nextdoor.com. Keep in mind starting small is ok. The important thing is to get started! Who to give access:
Primary: Districts/Sectors/Beats Secondary: Headquarters
Inspectors Captains Lieutenants Sergeants Community/Neighborhood
Policing/Resource/Service Officers
Chief/Commissioner Deputy Chiefs PIO
The department is responsible for providing shapefiles for any of the service areas into which it wishes to communicate or restrict staff members.
Recommended types of information your officers can communicate: Public agencies who partner with Nextdoor are considered “invited guests.” As such, you are asked to contribute content that is neighborhood specific, relevant, and timely. The types of content that we see our members appreciate fall into the themes below. Inform residents about:
Key neighborhood specific property crime arrests Pertinent facts about incidents and events in their neighborhood Upcoming policecommunity meetings and gatherings such as “Coffee with a cop”
occurring in their neighborhood Upcoming National Night Out events in their neighborhood Periodic crime statistics and information about concentrated property crime trends
occurring in their neighborhood
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Followups to issues and questions brought up at community meetings you attended in their neighborhood
Items that have been recovered in their neighborhood that need to be identified Upcoming programs and trainings such as policecitizen academy, rape aggression
defense, Neighborhood Watch, and youth programing in their neighborhood Community partner’s volunteer opportunities in their neighborhood
Educate residents about:
How to identify and report suspicious behavior and crime to the police Crime prevention best practices see our library of templates and the National Crime
Prevention Council Articulate the purpose and value of equipment such as air units, rescue vehicles, and
bodyworn cameras Who are and how to contact department personnel in their area Nextdoor crime prevention features such as urgent alerts and neighborhood groups Available crime mapping tools such as crimereports.com or raidsonline.com Property registry and crowdsourced lost and found sites such as rejjee.com
Activate residents to take actions such as:
To report suspicious and criminal activity by calling 911 Encourage residents to take steps to protect their homes, properties and themselves Ask for residents to report sightings or share information about most wanted criminals Recruit for available jobs and Academy openings Invite residents to attend meeting with the Commanders or the Commissioner Request feedback from the public about new ideas, programs, services, and the
strategic plan To build community at the neighborhood level; organize stoopsits, clean ups, block
parties, and garage sales General posting guidelines: Tone:
Communications should be conversational, genuine, and in plain English, not police speak. People want to hear from and interact with real people, not institutions.
Frequency of use: A general rule of thumb is no more than once a week. However, neighborhood specific
posts may be made as much as needed. When an important situation arises, or when a message is relevant to the entire city, a message may be posted to the entire service area.
Timeliness: Starting small is OK. People appreciate timely updates and also understand that as a
police officer, you need to spend your time based on what is going on. Remember to:
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Complete a spell check, review grammar, and doublecheck links and phone numbers. Follow all city communications policies, relevant directives, social media, and HR
policies. COPE - Create Once Publish Everywhere:
Start with posting content on Nextdoor, and as appropriate, share it to Facebook and Twitter to reach a wider audience to drive awareness and new members.
Alternatively, you can share posts on other platforms to Nextdoor such a video of a most wanted person on Facebook.
Strategy 2: Increase reach and engagement by leveraging points of contact
Launch tactics: Ongoing growth tactics:
Announce partnership to the media via a press release or press conference. Be sure to notify internal employees first
Send email invitations via mass communication tools
Ask staff to invite their neighborhood contacts
Inform your followers on other social media channels that you are now also on Nextdoor and encourage them to join
Add the Nextdoor badge to your website
Send invitations to all employees inviting them to join Nextdoor as members in the neighborhoods where they live
Post on Nextdoor first, then use the share feature to push to other social channels
Add Nextdoor to your crime prevention brochures and PSAs
Mention Nextdoor at public speaking events and at community meetings
Share success stories on Nextdoor with the media and on social media channels
Display signage at police stations Include Nextdoor in internal training
and updates, as well as Citizen Academy curriculum
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Strategy 3: Activate and empower residents to build community in enjoyable and sustainable ways. By encouraging residents to build community in enjoyable and sustainable ways, you’ll be empowering them connect in ways that make them feel more connected and committed to their neighborhoods. Below you will find activities to recommend to your residents.
Tactical activities: Social activities:
Neighbor Coffee Hour link to playbook is designed to bring neighbors together who live on the same floor or same block to get to know each other and to join Nextdoor.
Neighborhood Socials link to playbook is designed to bring neighbors together who live in the same neighborhood, to get to know each other in a fun and social setting, and to join Nextdoor.
Other activities Porch Sitting and planting flowers Community gardening Block/Park cleanups and garage cleanup/sales Block parties and dog walking groups
Walking Activities: Developed by Lt. Colonel Melvin Russell of the Community Collaboration Division of the Baltimore City Police Department. The primary reason for the walks is to create safe neighborhoods. This is done by engaging all community members in a nonconfrontational manner, building relational equity along the way. These walks are done with and even without
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area patrol officers and community officers. Information is shared with neighbors about available services in the community and safety tips. Mostly these walks foster healthy relationships amongst the neighbors themselves and with their area officers. As a result information (both critical Intel and "good to know") begins to flow between the community and police. Additional both the police and community begin to honor and respect each other. Good neighbor walks Where residents, community shareholders and police engage disengaged residents to say hello, share info and build relationships. Prayer walks Where faithbased organizations (preferably with other neighboring faithbased organizations) and police get out to say hello, listen, share available services and let the community know they're there to serve. Exercise walks Where our seniors come out and walk their community engaging everyone in a nonconfrontational manner and regaining their rightful place as our neighborhood wise elders. All walks are done because of a simple effective and proven principle..."An Engaged Presence Produces Reduction" of everything from crime to grime.
Strategy 4: Promote other agency and community resources to holistically support neighbors. Other public safety and administrative agencies are welcome to create a Nextdoor for Public Agencies account. Each of these agencies help to increase quality of life for residents and can share helpful information to support residents at different stages of their lives.
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Tactical activities: Inform members about other beneficial programs, services, and events that other
agencies and community partners offer to keep families healthy and safe Invite other government agencies serving your citizens to also use Nextdoor for Public
Agencies. All public safety and administrative agencies may apply for accounts at: https://nextdoor.com/agency. Each department may have its own account and may have unlimited users.
Strategy 5: Spend time facetoface with members of the community
While Nextdoor will help you communicate with many residents, meeting and spending time with people facetoface will always be an important and wonderful way to connect with and build relationships in the community. This applies to people who are not yet online and for everyone else as well. This can be accomplished at community meetings, at events such as block parties, and the popular “Coffee with a Cop.” Never discount facetoface time with members of your community.
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Conclusion: At Nextdoor, we believe that when neighbors start talking, good things happen. Our experience has shown us that when community policing officers proactively communicate with residents via Nextdoor for Public Agencies, our neighborhoods are safer and strongera benefit to everyone. It is our distinct honor to offer all U.S. law enforcement agencies free and unrestricted access to Nextdoor for Public Agencies to operationalize the attainment of community engagement outcomes laid out in the final report of President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Agencies may sign up at https://nextdoor.com/agency. All public safety and administrative agencies are welcome to apply. The Nextdoor for Public Agencies team is available to help. Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
Partner stories and media coverage about Nextdoor What our partners and members say about Nextdoor:
IACP Social Media Blog: Using Nextdoor to Expand Community Engagement IACP Social Media Blog: Bringing Your Social Media Audience as Close as Nextdoor Member Blog: Why Nextdoor over Email Lists Serves
What the media say about Nextdoor:
Sacramento Bee: Homicides reach a historic low in Sacramento NBC St. Louis: Shaw neighborhood using app to track crime GovTech: How Cities Can REALLY Use Nextdoor Social Network New York Times: Nextdoor Social Network Digs Deep Into Neighborhoods USA Today: Nextdoor 's hot neighborhood property worth $1.1B Government Technology: Why the Nextdoor HyperLocal Social Network is Exciting for
Public Agencies Next City: Building the Facebook of Neighborhoods
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Roadmap credits Author:
Joseph Porcelli, Senior City Strategist & Professional Neighbor, Nextdoor Special thanks to the following Nextdoor partner contributors:
Charles Husted, Lieutenant, Sacramento CA Police Department Jena Swafford, Social Media Manager, Sacramento CA Police Department; Anthony Murphy, Executive Director, Philadelphia PA Town Watch Integrated Services Melvin Russell, Lt. Colonel, Baltimore City Police Department Christopher Bolton, Commander, Oakland CA Police Department Peter Gillis, Officer, Braintree MA Police Department;
Reviewers:
Sarah Leary, CoFounder, Nextdoor Justine Fenwick, Senior City Strategist, Nextdoor Robbie Turner, Senior City Strategist, Nextdoor Adrian Fine, Senior Partnership Account Manager, Nextdoor Conor Coady, Partnership Account Manager, Nextdoor Anne Dreshfield, Communications Coordinator, Nextdoor
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