Gadgetory

our neighborhood is where we eat sleep play and live so it's only natural that residents are turning to technology to make them safer and friendlier local neighborhood watch programs now have a new tool an app designed to help prevent crime you can report suspicious people abandoned vehicles or abandoned property the app isn't for emergencies 911 remains the best way to report crimes in progress but it does provide a direct line to law enforcement the app was built with 30-somethings in mine first time homeowners who are comfortable with tech they wanted instant communications something that would further connect the citizens to us in law enforcement technology is also connecting people who may be strangers but they share an important bond geography next door is yet another social network but it differs from Facebook it only connects you to your neighbors it's really more about utility not social things it's not about status updates and photo sharing it's about solving problems getting together with your neighbors to solve problems and those problems can be anything like I need a new drycleaner I need a new plumber I need a new electrician next door which launched in 2011 and has grown to nearly 20,000 neighborhood since uses a few techniques to verify a member's address if they have a landline we can do what's called a reverse directory look up and call that landline with a special code if their mobile number is attached to their physical address we can send them a text message most next door posts follow under recommendations when you're looking for a local mechanic asking your LinkedIn or Facebook connections all over the world may not be helpful but the family living three doors down could know the perfect person another popular post category crime and safety accounting for about a fifth of all posts we got an update from someone in our neighborhood that there was a woman who had broken into a house and had taken a shotgun from this house and was out on the street waving it around and it happened to be the same street that our babysitter takes our son out on when she's taking him for a walk and so that was a particularly critical use case Bob Graham a resident in San Francisco's haight ashbury is grateful to next door for a totally different reason it helped him find his lost dog they allowed me to send an urgent message to all of my immediate neighbors and a longer message with a photo of to Lulu to the 19 neighborhoods around us a next-door member spotted to Lulu in a park 2 miles from where she went missing next door may be creating online communities but it's proving to have very real offline benefits in San Francisco I'm Sumi das cnet.com for CBS News