"Txting 2 Sav Lves"
by Ryan Terrell
Assistant Editor

March 12, 2008

Parents in New Lenox may soon find out text messaging — that annoying habit their children have fallen into - can actually be a useful tool.

The Village of New Lenox and the New Lenox Police Department launched a community service alert system March 5 that notifies residents of critical information, such as an amber alert, via text messages to cellular phones.

"The reverse 9-11 system (where automated calls are placed to residences) is a very good system, but unless you're home you're not going to get the information," Police Chief Dan Martin said. "This program is a level above that — even if you're not home you'll get the message."

"You could be in your office in Chicago and you would still be able to know you'd have to avoid U.S. 30 and Gougar Road because of a hazardous spill," Martin said as an example.

The service is available to any New Lenox resident free of cost, except when cellular usage fees apply.

The system will notify subscribing residents of important breaking news in the village, such as: amber alerts, hazardous material spills, criminal activity, missing persons, neighborhood watches, homeland security issues, road closures and watering restrictions that could be imposed.

Once the police department is notified of an occurrence, Martin or another officer will use software on the computers at the police department to send out a mass of text messages to subscribers.

Trustee Annette Bowden, chair of the village's Public Safety Committee, said the program will be beneficial in many ways to the residents.

"I think especially for parents with young children at home - to know what's happening in the community and near their homes is a huge benefit," Bowden said.

The program was implemented in the village free of charge by New Lenox resident Joseph Johns III, president and chief technology officer of XStream Mobile Solutions, a wireless communications company that specializes in developing distribution systems for wireless data communications.

Johns said his alert system "protects communities from the inside out rather than the outside in."

"Using the reverse 9-11 system may take 20 minutes to send out alerts. Ours takes 20 seconds," Johns said. "It's incredibly reliable."

He added sending text messages rather than placing calls to cell phones is more efficient because the texting system operates on a data stream. "Text messages are much more vibrant, and the system behind it is more reliable."

Users of the technology locally include the Kankakee Sheriff's Department, the Lemont Emergency Management Agency (EMA), the Will County EMA and Manteno Police Department, Johns said.

The system is designed to only send emergency messages, "so only anything that impacts our community on a negative level will be sent out," he said.

Residents registering for the service are able to choose whichever of the nine alert categories they would like to receive. Users are also asked to enter contact information, including name, e-mail address and cell phone number, before registration is complete.

To register for the text message alert system, go to www.nlpdalert.com.