Cops Add Web Tools as a Way to Connect
The Sacramento Police Department has developed a blog that is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.
The blog expands how the department uses the Internet, for example by responding to queries from citizens, launching podcasts to attract new hires, and making online crime reports more accessible. The blog was initially released in August, and now boasts almost 100 user accounts.
Users can post questions through a feature called “Ask Officer Michelle,” which is handled by Officer Michelle Lazark. One person, for example, recently posted a question about how to handle a witnessed crime.
SPD Police Chief Albert Najera is now mulling the creation of an internal blog to help him communicate with the police force’s 1,200 employees. “Anything you can do to make a police officer seem less threatening and more like a real person is very positive,” says Wayne Barte with the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization. “And it gives people a vehicle for finding out information that they flat out don’t know.”
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) from the Sacramento Bee (CA); 12/03/06; P. B1; Lillis, Ryan.