Kilcullen Garda District Community Text Alert

Community Text Alert is a scheme that allows the local community members to actively contribute to crime prevention in their local area by, writes Sabina Reddy, PRO of the local scheme. This is achieved by communicating any suspicious activity to the Gardai and in turn, receiving broadcast information by text from the Gardai about any potential criminal activity in the local or surrounding area of the community.

Kilcullen Community Text Alert was founded in the need for the community to help liaison with the local Gardai, with the help of 'Muintir Na Tire', to prevent crime and help to observe and report suspicious activity.

This is done through signing up to the scheme (forms can be obtained from members of the steering committee). There is a €10 administration fee per household. Your mobile phone number is put on Kilcullen Text Alert database. (All phone numbers are under the Data Protection Act).

If suspicious activity is observed, scheme participants inform the Gardai. On the advice of the Gardai a text will be sent to all persons signed in your area informing everyone of the information.

Full information of community text scheme is on the 'Muintir Na Tire' website www.muintirnatire.ie.

The Process of the Community Text Alert Schemed stemmed initially from the Kilcullen2017 committee which organized a community forum in Kilcullen Community Complex where the idea was initiated through a Muintir Na Tire representative. A steering committee was formed on June 1 and it was decided that the scheme would extend through the Kilcullen Garda District.

A phone was purchased, insurance bought and the committee are now active in gathering names and phone numbers to form the data base for the Kilcullen area. This was set up firstly in the rural area and is now active but the plan is also to include Kilcullen Town into the scheme.

All phone numbers on the text alert phone are grouped into the area where people are living, such as Old Kilcullen, Kilgowan, Carnalway/Silliot Hill. Information will be sent to the areas where it is relevant.

The success of the scheme is dependent on a maximum amount of people signing up to the scheme. There is also no point in having more than one phone for the Kilcullen area as the scheme works more successfully with having one in the area. This works best for the Gardai. Each area can have its own committee which can aid the steering committee. (e.g. a local resident association). As Kilcullen community has a population of over 4,000 people the steering will gladly welcome that such committees be formed that will feed to the steering committee.
Committees can also be a social or sporting organisation (e.g. GAA, KYC) that can support the plan.

The steering committee are somewhat limited in the ground work they can do as there are less than ten people involved so we are asking Kilcullen community both urban and rural to support us in this project. Representatives from each area/organisation can represent their area on the steering committee. We are looking for areas, resident associations, sporting clubs and all other social clubs to contact us to come on board with the project. Before anyone can be signed to the scheme written permission is sought through a special form for the scheme. We also look for €10 per household to cover costs and any number of mobile numbers in a household can go one each form. We would like to emphasis that by getting people to volunteer to help with the scheme would mean that when information is sought that the person calling to neighbours are familiar to them and not a stranger who may have untoward intentions. The phone is rotated on a voluntary basis among the steering committee. When held by a committee member this is a 24 hour service.

The long term plan is that in future is that the Gardai will take over the scheme on a national basis. The data will have been all ready gathered.

To make contact with the steering committee please send a direct message to Kilcullen Town Facebookpage, contact Ivan Keatley at 0872731335 or Sabina Reddy at 0876807139.