Informant Vol 10 No 2 - 2013 Spring - National White Collar Crime ...

Virtual PatrolGlobal ‘Tweet-a-thon’ uses Twitter ® to pull back curtain on day-to-day police workBy Ty BowersOn paper, Master Patrol Officer Al Joyner’s shifton Friday, March 22 looked routine. The 18-yearRichmond (VA) Police Department (RPD) veteranbegan with a careful pass through some back streetsin an area of town that recently suffered a rash of burglaries.He took a citizen’s report of a roaming dog in theneighborhood and gave a brief search for the waywardanimal, despite his fear of dogs. He served some temporarydetention orders at the local hospital. He wrote aparking ticket, responded to two car crashes and madeseveral business checks.Screen shot highlighting tweets shared by law enforcementduring the “Tweet-a-thon.”Officer Joyner’s shift appeared routine in nearly everyrespect, save for one. Dionne Waugh, a member of theDepartment’s Public Affairs Unit, rode along with him,broadcasting updates and photos via Twitter® for most ofthe afternoon. The virtual ride along (“tweet-along”) wasa first for Richmond Police. In fact, Joyner and Waughjoined hundreds of other law enforcement professionalsin a global first – a 24-hour Police “Tweet-a-thon.” Usingthe Twitter hash tag #poltwt to identify their participatingtweets, more than 230 agencies worldwide joined in theevent. The goal of which, according to organizer Lauri Stevens,“was to call attention to the work police do and alsoto law enforcement use of social media.”Stevens’ LAwS Communications provides interactivemedia consultation services to law enforcement agencies,especially in the area of social media strategy. “Using socialmedia in law enforcement is more than the fluff somepeople (inside and outside law enforcement) think it is,”Stevens said. “I think (with the Global Tweet-a-thon) weachieved that and much more.”Positive FeedbackThe Global Tweet-a-thon attracted considerable attentionboth on Twitter and in the mainstream press. Ultimatelythe 24-hour event became a top-10 trending topicon the site in the U.S., according to data compiled by theWeb-monitoring company BrightPlanet. News outletsthroughout the country filed reports documenting localagencies’ contributions to the effort.In Richmond, the reaction was similar. “We receivedpositive feedback, questions and some good-natured ribbingfrom some of our fellow agencies who have differentlevels of interest in social media use,” Waugh said. “Ithink most of them were quite curious about how it wouldwork, the responses we would get and the overall experience.Since we learn from each other’s experiences and weall talk about issues that cross jurisdictional boundaries, Ithink it was a good event that encouraged others to considerdoing something similar.”Worldwide, feedback from law enforcement, the pressand citizens was positive as well, Stevens noted. “The lawenforcement participants all seemed to think it was a hugesuccess given that it trended in the top 10 everywhere,starting in New Zealand and spreading to Europe andthen North America. Some of the comments from themwere absolutely, effusively positive.”In addition to the Public Affairs Unit, Richmond PoliceDeputy Chief John Buturla (@RPDDepChiefJB) andSector Lieutenant David Naoroz (@RPDLtDave) maintainTwitter accounts. During the Tweet-a-thon, both of themposted more often, taking the opportunity to “connectwith their fellow law enforcement tweeters from aroundthe world,” Waugh explained. “It was an eye-opening experiencefor all of us at Richmond Police to receive tweetsfrom Iceland and England and to read about crime andpolice issues around the world.”StrategyEach agency that participated in the event could determineprecisely how it would approach the concept,whether by “tweeting the beat” or posting about all callsfor service or some other mix of content.For instance, RPD decided it would participate on Fridayafternoon during the event because Twitter users aremost active during that time. The downtown area was tar-8INFORMANT: SPRING/SUMMER 2013