Many use the tool WhatsApp to send messages, photographs of friends and even funny memes. However, Nosara residents are using this phone application to keep the community watchful, informed and alert.
Since mid-January, the Tourist Police and the Nosara Security Association created a Whatsapp group with 100 members from all over the district with the goal of maintaining communication between community members and the police.
According to Jason Vargas, the Tourist Police chief for Nosara, this tool is used in other communities in Guanacaste.
“It’s such a good tool, so efficient, that at least in my case I’m in a chat for Monteverde, Potrero, Playa Grande, Nosara; so this allows us to exchange information about suspects that are going around committing crimes, which is useful to all of us since we are from nearby coasts,” Vargas explained.
The chat is administered by the Security Association and according to Agnes Pineiro, a member of the organization, for now they only have a group of 100 people but hope to make a second group.
“WhatsApp does not allow groups of more than 100 people, so we are testing it with this first one. In the group, people are only allowed to send information or ask questions, but no jokes or pranks are allowed. It has gone very well,” Pineiro said.
Pineiro related that thanks to the chat, they were able to communicate to the police that there was a suspicious car in the canton during the month of February. However, after the alerts, the vehicle disappeared from the town.
For those who want to be added in a second group, Pineiro said they can write an email to [email protected].
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