POLICE AUTHORITY MEMBERS JOIN THE TWITTERATI
22nd August 2011
Two members of Lincolnshire Police Authority will be joining police officers on duty in different parts of the county next month , and Tweeting comments and observations throughout their shifts.
Richard Davies has volunteered for a night shift in Lincoln or Gainsborough on September 2nd , while Rod Must will spend September 12th with a traffic officer in the Boston area.
The Authority’s Engagement and Communications Officer, John Horton, said :’ We first went on the road with Twitter in June, when another of our members, John Atter, joined a patrol .The Twitter community reacted so positively that we immediately looked for more opportunities to repeat the operation. The idea of a traffic shift and a Friday night shift came from the people who followed the last event.
Authority members regularly meet police officers, of course, but Twitter adds an extra dimension. It’s an opportunity for Twitter followers to find out exactly what the workload of our officers is like”.
Richard Davies said: "The use of new social media tools such as Twitter allows people to get a real sense of what's going one in a manner that suits them, rather than long articles or television programmes. Tweeting gives short sharp bursts of information that reflect the varied nature of policing".
Rod Must said : “ We know that Twitter is a valuable way of communicating and engaging with the communities we serve. What we don’t know is what’s likely to happen on patrol because there’s no such thing as a routine day”.
To follow the events of the day and to Tweet contributions to the dialogue, Twitterers should follow @LincsPA and use the hashtag (#) #LincsTweetBeat
For those people who don’t use Twitter, we will publish all the messages from the event on our website www.lincolnshire.gov.uk the following day.
ISSUED BY: Alan Hardwick, Marketing and Media Officer( 01522 558717)