New Fee Makes Grosse Pointe Woods, Farms Officials Rethink Public Alert System

The public alert system used by the and police is being reconsidered only about a year after the departments began utilizing it because the company now wants to impose a fee. 

Nixle, billed as a free service for small-to-medium-sized governments and police agencies, has recently begun charging for service. The system allows officials to post emergency alerts, such as AMBER alerts, as a way to spread the word to community members, who can sign up to receive such alerts. The system also allows for less urgent messages, such as community event reminders and news. 

Anyone can sign up to receive the information based on zip codes and users may choose which messages they prefer to receive as well as how they prefer to receive it: e-mail, text message, etc. 

Grosse Pointe Woods began using Nixle in February 2010 and Grosse Pointe Farms started using the system about a year ago. Lt. Andrew Rogers of the Farms public safety department received an award in March for implementing the use of Nixle, receiving praise for helping connect the community with information they need in a timely manner. 

Neither department issues alerts frequently, but the service is important in the event of an emergency. The Woods used it to alert users of a bank robbery on Mack Avenue and the Farms issued alerts this year warning residents of a person posing as a snow shoveler who was targeting the area with a series of car break-ins and a car theft. Both communities used it during this winter's snowstorms to warn of snow emergencies going into effect. 

In addition to informing residents, the alerts also inform news organizations, which helps further spread the alert, Rogers said.

Rogers said Nixle was bought by another company in 2010 and a recent decision to begin charging for the service has been all the chatter among police departments throughout the country.

The service went from being free to now costing upwards of $3,500 for a year, according to Woods City Manager Al Fincham, who is checking into the pricing more and whether the service is worth keeping.

Rogers said the Farms has worked out a deal with Nixle for a one-year subscription at a reduced rate in hopes of developing another system or finding another system that would be cost-free. In the Farms, he said, the service was just beginning to take off in the community and officials don't want to lose that.

Nixle would not provide Rogers with information about how many people were signed up to receive alerts through the system, he said. Anecdotally however, residents comment about the alerts often to Rogers and Farms Public Safety Director Dan Jensen, both said. 

Following backlash from police departments nationwide, Rogers said the company changed the fee structure  and will continue to allow emergency alerts for free but will still impose charges for the other, less urgent messages. 

A Nixle representative has not responded to a request for an interview by Patch.

"There was no warning or indication," Rogers said of the sudden move to charge. "It was a bait and switch."

The one-year membership allows Farms officials to send all four kinds of messages and Rogers said they plan to "get as much bang for your buck" during that year. He said they plan to use it more to highlight parks and recreation events and send reminders to residents in addition to the emergency alerts. 

While both municipalities are reviewing the use of Nixle, Rogers said he wouldn't be surprised if the company changed its setup again within the next year based on the negative response from users.

He is the account administrator for the Farms and he learned of the price schedule from another source, not Nixle directly. Fincham said he is planning to check into the fee schedule more closely but the cost is likely to determine whether they continue to use it.