Capitola PD Launches Alert System, Gets Facebook Savvy

It hasn't taken long for Capitola Police Chief Rudy Escalante to make his mark in town. He was , and now the summer is marking the launch of a community-inclusive chapter for the department.

Much like , Escalante is heading the effort to jump start the use of Nixle alerts in Capitola. Nixle sends text messages and emails to its subscribers with vital, breaking information about their town. For example, the Capitola Police Department can use Nixle to tell the public about major crime, traffic updates, weather, accidents, road closures, public safety, etc. Think of it like Patch's breaking news alerts, but straight from the police department.

"If you were working over the hill and you saw an alert that a , you could choose to take Old San Jose Road," Escalante said. 

He plans to send an alert on Tuesday reminding Capitola about local Fourth of July beach laws. Having direct communication with the people of Capitola means a large array of vital information can be shared.

"We could send one out saying 'The Village is closed due to a gas leak.' Or we could report a missing child or an Alzheimer's patient that has walked away from a home," Escalante said. "If we're looking for a hit-and-run vehicle, it benefits us to put that out there."

To sign up for local nixle alerts, head over to the Capitola Police Department website and click the button that says "Click to register and receive text message alerts from the Capitola Police Department." You can also register at www.nixle.com.

Capitola already has about 300 subscribers, Escalante said, because the department used the service far in the past. But no alerts have been sent for years, so Escalante is now focused on spreading the word and getting the service up and running again locally.

He is training officers to use Nixle from the field, to make updates as up-to-date as possible.

The second tier of the new digital era of the Capitola Police Department is the launch of an official Facebook page, which will feature similar updates and allow the public to interact with the department online. To get an idea of how it could shape up, check out the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.

Tracie Hernandez, the records manager at the police department, has been hard at work developing the page, Escalante said, and she plans to officially unveil it late this week. Facebook users will see collaboration with the Sheriff's Office and Capitola PD on Facebook, particularly when posting their most-wanted criminals.

There are already a few Facebook pages called "Capitola Police Department," but Escalante said this one will be a brand new URL and it will be regularly maintained. Check Patch later this week for more information on the PD Facebook page, when it becomes available.

Will you subscribe to Nixle alerts? Will you check out the police department on Facebook? Tell us in the comments!

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