A Chattanooga community is taking a proactive approach to let criminals know they aren't welcome on their streets.
"This is what I would call preventive medicine," said Olga De Klein, the security chair for the Highland Park Nieghborhood.
"I love the neighborhood. It's vibrant, young," said Klein.
She introduced a free, mobile neighborhood watch program to the community. They're the first to use "Village Defense" in Chattanooga.
"This is a faster way to make people even more aware and alert," said Klein.
People are able to snap pictures, write descriptions, and send alerts to the other subscribers when they notice suspicious activity in the neighborhood.
"We don't have to really get out into it and get involved," said Tamara Green, who's lived in Highland Park for three years, "by just recieving a text message, it's going to be a lot easier."
Green says she loves the idea and says this will be a deterrent to future criminals in the area.
"I hope they say "i'm going to stay away from that area, and not come this way,"" said Green.
The system was put to the test last month when police say an inmate stole a Hamilton County public works truck, led police on a chase and crashed in Highland Park.
"They ended up on Chamberlain, so we knew that right away,"said De Klein.
She says 50 households have already signed up for the messaging service and she's confident more will join.
"We have a lot of young people and they are all very technical, so they were like "yea, lets try it out,"" said De Klein.
The Village Defense app is operated by an Atlanta company. They also offer a pay service that sends voice alerts to land lines.
For more information about Village Defense, CLICK HERE
