The United States Park Police is expanding its public alert system to include a new, up-to-the-minute notification system that will send information straight to the cellphones of Washingtonians 24 hours a day. The service, provided free of charge by Nixle, was first used by the U.S. Park Police for Fourth of July activities in the D.C. area. Nixle provides this technology for more that 6,000 public safety agencies in the United States. Traffic, crime and safety conditions will be sent out via text message. The public can sign up for the alerts by texting USPPDC to 888777 or by signing up on nixle.com. – Abby Hamblin
