Upbeat, November 2012 - Essex Police

News 3
We’re out to Imprez
Did you know the force has a Subaru Impreza
WRX which is used as a driving simulator?
It was one of the force’s interceptors – as seen on
Channel 5’s Police Interceptors.
The vehicle was converted into a simulator by staff
in Transport Services’ new build workshop – most of
it in their own time.
Now we take the simulator into schools and
colleges throughout the year to give the students a
simulated police drive. It is also used at road safety
events around the county.
And in the summer it appeared at a Help for Heroes
fund-raising event at the Prodrive/Kenilworth Circuit
in Warwickshire.
If you know of an event in your neighbourhood
at which the driving simulator could make an
appearance, contact community engagement officer
Pc Paul Barber in Operational Policing Command on
101 ext 481121 or via email with details
Essex
Police’s
Subaru Impreza
WRX driving
simulator is
available for
community and
road safety events
Picture by Paul Barber
Social media attracts a following
Essex Police now has more than 25,000 followers on Twitter
The force’s official page @essexpoliceuk has been
steadily attracting followers since it was launched in
May 2010 as another method of communicating with
the public.
The page is used to keep residents up to date with
policing activities – including arrests, charges and
court sentences – as well as to ask the public for help
to identify suspects caught on camera and trace
vulnerable missing people.
We also currently have seven police officers with
official Essex Police Twitter accounts as well a page
dedicated to the activity of our helicopter.
The page, @qh99heli, which was launched in
conjunction with Kent Police, has recently been
re-named @NPAS_Boreham following the launch of
the National Police Air Service last month.
But Twitter is just one of a growing number of social
media channels Essex Police uses to reach residents
of Essex and beyond.
Audioboo and Facebook pages are already up and
running at www.audioboo.fm/essexpoliceuk
and www.facebook.com/essexpoliceuk and last
month we launched Flickr to coincide with the
results of a Hallowe’en poster competition for
young people.
Children aged five to 11 were asked to help us
spread safety messages in the run-up to Hallowe’en
and Bonfire Night.
Around 500 entries were received and everyone
who entered was able to see their design on show
on an online poster gallery on our Flickr page
www.flickr.com/essexpoliceuk
And our YouTube channel hosts more than 150
short videos and CCTV clips which have been
watched more than a million times.
The channel www.youtube.com/essexpoliceuk
features two- to three-minute videos which are
created in-house by the TV and Internet units and
show police officers, police staff and police animals
in action across the county.
UPBEAT November 2012