Google and Nixle Team Up For Public Safety Alerts

LAPD is one of the agencies that uses Nixle to send alerts
LAPD is one of the agencies that uses Nixle to send alerts

Google and Nixle are working together to help people better respond to emergency situations in their communities and schools.

Emergency alerts, about crimes in progress, lock-downs, natural disasters, missing children and other events will now show up when people do relevant searches on Google web search, maps and Google Now:

  • Google Search: Search a location or keyword triggering an active Nixle alert, the alert will be visible at the top of search results with the ablity to click for more information.
  • Google Maps: Search a location on Google Maps and the active Nixle alert will be pinned to that geography.
  • Google Now: Android phones within the affected community will display the Nixle alert directly on the phone through Google Now

(Source Nixle)

San Francisco-based Nixle is a public safety communications platform used by more than 6,500 public service agencies including police, fire departments and emergency management services.  The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (where I serve as a board member) uses Nixle for missing children alerts as a supplement to its Amber alerts.

Schools too

Nixle also works with schools, according to spokesperson Jim Gatta, who use the service to notify parents and other community members on a wide range of issues from day-to-day event notifications to school lock-downs  Nixle also provides schools and police departments with anonymous reporting systems for crimes, bullying or potential self-harm.

(Disclosure: I’m co-director of ConnectSafely.org, a non-profit Internet safety organization that receives financial support from Google).

 This article first appeared on Forbes.com