In Seattle the Police Embrace Twitter

Called “Tweets-by-beat,” the city of Seattle has started 51 hyper-local Twitter accounts, based on their officers’ beats, in order to keep residents up-to-date about the happenings in their specific neighborhoods. This program will supplement the department’s online blotter. "Anyone can read these feeds — even people who aren’t on Twitter", says Sgt. Sean Whitcomb of the department’s Public Affairs office. “We made it super easy. All you need is an Internet connection.”

The idea is to raise public awareness of personal safety and to prevent crimes. “Maybe people will take the time to use some common sense to reduce the likelihood of them being victims of crime,” Whitcomb says.

While the department has used its main Twitter account @SeattlePD for several years, the department debated at length about how soon they should tweet about a potential crime. They considered police safety and the fact that criminals may follow the Twitter accounts. The Twitter feeds won’t detract from regional newspapers and other news outlets that publish or broadcast the police blotters, but rather will add to discussion of local crime, Whitcomb says.