Mission Statement: The principal mission of the Town of Chester Police Department is to preserve the rights of citizens and reduce fear in the community through the prevention of crime, protection of persons, property, and the maintenance of order in public places; and to anticipate and respond to events that threaten public order and the protection of life and property.

It is essential all members remember that in the execution of their duties they act not for themselves but for the good of the public. They shall respect and protect the rights of individuals and perform their services with honesty, zeal, courage, discretion, fidelity, and sound judgment.

Police officers must seek and preserve public confidence by demonstrating impartial service to law, and by offering service and trust to all members of the public. It is the expressed Policy of this Department that police officers will use force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public cooperation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary upon any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.

The Town of Chester Police will utilize a new communications service, effective immediately, that allows us to send important, valuable community information directly to residents using the latest technology. The Nixle Community Information Service allows us to create and publish messages to be delivered to subscribed residents instantly via cell phone text message and/or email. Notifications can also be accessed online at Nixle's web site at www.nixle.com. Messages may include road closures, time-sensitive public safety information, crime prevention tips, community event information or general news releases.

The service is reliable and free for our group and the community members to use.

The message can be sent specifically to residents registered within a 1/4 mile radius, giving them the opportunity to receive trustworthy information relevant only to their neighborhood. Residents decide from which local agencies they want to receive information. Subscribers can also choose the way in which alerts are received, whether it is by email, text message or over the web.

There is NO spam and no hidden cost. Standard text messaging rates do apply.

Nixle builds on the foundations of other public-to-public communication services, such as Twitter, facebook and MySpace, but adds a key component: security. When citizens receive information from our agency via Nixle, they know it can be trusted.

"Nixle is a first-of-its-kind tool for communities that need to provide critical information to their residents" said Craig Mitnick, founder and CEO. "In today's world, you have to trust the source of your information. Residents of the Town of Chester can rest easy that the local messages they receive are authentic."

Residents of Chester and those in neighboring communities can immediately begin receiving pertinent information via text message, email, and the web by registering at www.nixle.com. There will be no change to the methods with which information has been distributed to the press and public in the past. This new service is being used in addition to the methods already in place.