SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Police are calling Social Networking one of their newest crime fighting weapons.
In addition to “serving and protecting” more and more cops are “Facebooking,” “Tweeting” and “YouTubing.”
The results indicate that this is the Police work of the future.
Sergeant Craig Martinez of the Orem Police Department said, “I have my Facebook page running all day on my computer. I have it up on one screen and I do my work on the other.”
Martinez is not “goofing off” during the day; he is following orders from his boss.
The order was to reach out through the Internet and establish a community policing program.
"Everybody always has a perception of police officers and a lot of times it's not a good one. So we're trying to personalize it for the citizens here but all across the state,” Martinez said.
Response has been better than expected.
"We didn't know what we were going to run into when we started this thing up. Since October, we've got over 11-hundred fans now,” Martinez said.
Fans ask questions.
There were the Massachusetts parents who sent their daughter to Utah Valley University.
"They gave me the address where'd she be living and asked my opinion on what type of neighborhood that was and whether I would let my daughter live there,” Martinez said.
Other fans of the Facebook page are known to help solve crimes, most recently; a stolen car case.
Hundreds of fans have attended web seminars on burglary and identity theft prevention.
Still, others complain about the cops.
One person even commented about an officer being “rude.” Martinez will not take it off the wall where everyone can see it.
Martinez said, "I have no problem leaving them on there. That's just fine with me."
Salt Lake Police are using “YouTube” to fight crime.
Carrie Farrell was a suspect in a string of frauds in Utah and other states. Police put up a short video on Youtube.com asking for tips.
Robin Snyder of the Salt Lake Police Department said, "Soon after that, an employer saw the YouTube listing and then Carrie Farrell saw that as well and then posted her own YouTube listing in response to our YouTube listing. An employer recognized her, reported her to the police and then she was taken into custody in Philadelphia.”
The Salt Lake Police Department sees social-networking as a great tool.
"We've found it to be a huge success for Salt Lake City Police Department in apprehending suspects,” Snyder said, “It's become another channel for us in getting information out to the media."
Sandy Police and Unified Police are also “Facebooking” and “Tweeting” like teenagers.
Speaking of teenagers…
Kids, brag about your parties that involve underage drinking and pot smoking on Facebook, but don’t be surprised if the cops are watching.
