The Village of Wellington gives residents online tools to better protect themselves from becoming a victim of crime.
Communities, along with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, are turning to free apps like Nextdoor as a way to stay in constant contact with people.
"People shouldn't be afraid of it," said Mayor of Wellington Anne Gerwig.
The community was recently named a top place to retire and the mayor says she also wants to keep its crime low. The best way to do so; your smartphone.
"As we were going through Irma last year we were noticing people weren't watching the government channel and weren't necessarily looking at our website but Facebook and Twitter," said village manager Paul Schofield.
Thanks to free apps like Nextdoor, with the tap of a finger and within seconds you can find out what's happening down to the exact street you live on.
"Empowers them to do something to keep our neighborhood safe," said resident Fran Sokol.
Frank Sokol has been part of her neighborhood watch group for the past 7 years. She plans to take what she learns at the event and teach her friends in her 55+ community.
"Most of our community does not use social media, although they are savvy with their phones I don’t think they use Snapchat," said Sokol.
PBSO deputies hosted a presentation at the Wellington Community Center Wednesday night to teach people what apps to join and the best ways to communicate with law enforcement.
"A lot of times older communities, older generations are not very savvy when it comes to social media but I think gradually everyone is coming up to speed," said Rolando Silva.
Whether it's crime, a broken sewer pipe or a community event, Wellington says it's on social media first.
"If you look at Wellington's social media five years ago it was nonexistent, so we are moving into the 21 century, slowly," said Schofield.
For more information about PBSO preventing crime through social media: CLICK HERE
