AlertID provides Henderson residents with instant crime updates

By Jackie Valley

Published Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012 | 2 a.m.

Updated Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012 | 12:58 p.m.

If a three-alarm fire paralyzes a busy intersection in Henderson, an alert system adopted by the city in August can quickly notify residents to avoid the area.

Worried about car burglaries in your neighborhood? Same deal.

AlertID, a Nevada-based company that launched a year ago, sends email or text message notifications to its members, who can personalize their settings based on what they want to know.

Henderson Police Chief Jutta Chambers said more than 12,000 residents have signed up for the free service, which she credits with improving the city’s safety.

Forbes recently ranked Henderson the second safest city in the nation based on factors such as median income, poverty rate, violent crime and traffic fatalities.

Violent crimes and property crimes dropped by 6 and 16 percent, respectively, last year in Henderson compared to 2010, police said.

“That’s not the end of our journey,” Chambers said. “We have taken for years a very proactive approach in fighting crime and realized that crime is not a police problem. It’s a community problem.”

That’s why AlertID fits into the city’s plan for community engagement, she said. Police sent fliers in utility bills to Henderson residents earlier this month, encouraging them to sign up for the service.

“We believe that an informed public is one that will help us combat these crimes,” Chambers said.

AlertID, which operates on revenue from sponsors, initially launched in the Reno area before spreading to Henderson in August, founder Keli Wilson said.

AlertID expects 25,000 users in Henderson by the end of March, based on growth patterns so far, Wilson said.

“It absolutely exploded, because people are really excited to have information and to be able to use that information to make choices,” especially regarding their children’s safety, she said.

AlertID officials said Metro Police are using the program internally, with an expected public launch within the next month. The company, which plans to relocate to Las Vegas, also is expanding to Idaho and Utah, Wilson said.