City Acknowledges Mistake With Nixle Alert Promoting Event Sponsored by Mayor

Dearborn city employees were left scratching their heads on Thursday when a community message promoting an event sponsored by Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr. was sent out to subscribers of the police department's NIXLE account.

The alert was sent out at 1:28 p.m. encouraging residents to attend "All Roads Point to Home: Where Unity Is Community" at the Ford Community Performing Arts Center.

"Bring your family and neighbors for a free fun-filled evening of food, entertainment and community with Mayor Jack O'Reilly, Jr!" the announcement said.

NIXLE is funded by federal grants and is primarily used by police departments, municipalities and school districts to send public safety alerts; up-to-the-minute information; advisories, reminders and last minute cancellations; municipal and community news and happenings to subscribers via text message or email.

Mary Laundroche, director of public information for the city, said that the use of the system to promote the mayor's event was an accident.

"It was an honest mistake and the message was retracted as soon as we became aware of it," she said. "Our policy will be reviewed so anyone using NIXLE is clear what is appropriate and what is not appropriate to prevent mistakes like this from happening in the future."

Reports show that the message was retracted at 2:27 p.m.

Laundroche said NIXLE has been used in the past to promote city-sponsored programs such as the Dearborn Police Department's National Night Out, or Public Service Days reminders.

"It's a good tool to get information to the public, but in this case it was not appropriate," she said.

Laundroche said no one from the city asked the police department to release the NIXLE alert.

"They saw an event flyer for the mayor's event and probably didn't realize that it wasn't being put on by the city," she said.

City Council President Tom Tafelski said the misuse of NIXLE was "an egregious error" that should not be tolerated.

"The system was used to promote an event tonight for a candidate running for office," he said. "We can always claim ignorance after the fact, but it happens far too often with this administration, and I hope the residents of Dearborn know that it is only going to get worse."

"Whoever is responsible should be held accountable, up to and including termination," Tafelski said.