BY MEGHAN CALLAHAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
HOBART – The cities of Hobart and Lawrence have recently adopted the Ring Neighborhood app as a source of information and emergency alerts.
The Ring Neighborhood app lets users anonymously discuss crime and safety within their city.
The app also works with local law enforcement to keep citizens updated about events that may affect them.
In addition to these features, the app also allows verified law enforcement to post public bulletins to request for assistance/information.
Ring Neighborhood also allows for its users to make reports about crime/events that happen within their neighborhood.
The service is exclusive to public safety, unlike other apps of a similar nature.
Previously, apps such as Facebook and Nextdoor were used in order to keep tabs on things happening in the cities, but were a bit messy and inefficient when it came to distributing information in a concise and timely manner.
Hobart-Lawrence Police Chief Michael Renkas describes its use as “helping to communicate more effectively about potential issues.”
These issues may include weather, safety and lost and found.
The app can also be used for traffic issues, which is beneficial for both residents and travelers.
The idea of using the Ring Neighborhood app started back in 2022 when the towns of Lawrence and Hobart were experiencing significant weather issues such as severe storms.
“We looked at what we could do better for the citizens,” stated Renkas and they settled on Ring Neighborhood.
The app provides other features such as how to evacuate in cases of severe weather and other emergencies as well as providing information about expired or recalled foods.
After looking into multiple different apps and seeing how they worked, they eventually settled on Ring Neighborhood for its useful features.
The app is also free to use.
Another perk of this app is the geofencing feature.
The neighborhoods that are notified about certain issues within their area are specific rather than broad, which is helpful to both the notifiers and the people being notified.
The Ring Neighborhood app works on both Apple and Android products and is available on the App Store or Google Play.
This app is available to both residents and non-residents.
Renkas said that he believes app users will mostly be comprised of “residents and business owners who need to stay up to date about what’s happening in their town.”
As mentioned previously however, the app is available to anybody and could be a very useful tool for people traveling through Hobart and Lawrence.