Tech Error Reminds Public Safety Officials Not to Solely Rely on Social Media to Inform Public

Social Media has its place in the world of public safety.  It can help present a friendly face to the community, quickly send safety information to the public, and engage residents in finding missing persons.  Nonetheless, formats such as Facebook and Twitter can also create a set of issues when it comes to communicating important public safety alerts to our citizens.

Facebook has recently made some changes to their publishing features, and as a result, our Nixle public safety alerts are not able to auto-publish to our Department’s Facebook page at this time.  Nixle is aware of the problem and their engineering team is working with Facebook’s engineering team to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. 

This technical error is a good reminder that Social media avenues, such as Facebook and Twitter, often fail when it comes to addressing the needs of public safety agencies and the public they serve.  In the event that Facebook or Twitter have technical issues, you can still receive our public safety alerts directly from Nixle.  This is the only way we guarantee you will receive every alert, advisory, or community message from the San Angelo Police Department. 

Nixle is a mass communication system designed by and built for public safety agencies. Strict verification procedures, industry-specific message structuring, and geographic-targeting technology are just a few features that make Nixle ideal for delivering everything from public safety announcements to emergency alerts. 

Sign up is easy— if you live in San Angelo and want to sign up for the free Nixle alerts, go to www.nixle.com and click “Sign Up Free!”  Once you create an account, you can customize your settings to include points of interest or to specify what hours you may want to turn off alerts.  Remember, there is no charge but Message and Data rates may apply.  AT&T, T-Mobile®, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and most other carriers are supported.  

If you want to receive our public safety alerts by TEXT MESSAGE only, simply text your zip code to 888777. 

For additional help with creating your account, contact customer support at [email protected].