Birmingham Police Joins Nixle to Better Communicate With Community

Want to keep up on crime news or critical events in Birmingham? The  hopes to make that a little easier thanks to Nixle, a communications service that connects Birmingham Police with your cellphone or email inbox.

Effective today, Birmingham will use the Nixle Community Information Service  to create and publish messages, which then delivers them instantly to subscribed members via text message or email. Notifications may also be accessed online at Nixle's website, Nixle.com.

The service is free and open to all community members, Birmingham Police Cmdr. Terry Kiernan said.

Nixle messages sent to community subscribers may include:

• notes about crime prevention, such as an increase in thefts from cars in certain areas, or a description of a suspect, or a suspect's vehicle, involved in a nearby crime.
• missing persons notifications, such as a missing child or a missing adult suffering from Alzheimer's.
• notifications about major or critical events that have occurred, or are occurring, within the city.

Birmingham isn't the first area community to use Nixle. Auburn Hills uses the service, though the Beverly Hills Public Safety Department dropped the service in April 2011.

To sign up for Nixle, simply register at Nixle.com. A mobile phone number is not required for sign-up, though an email address is. Or you can send a text message with Birmingham's ZIP code, 48009, to 888777, to sign up.

For more information about Nixle, contact Kiernan at 248-530-1865.

Correction: The Beverly Hills Public Safety Department and the Clawson Police Department previously used Nixle, but are not subscribed to the service anymore.