By Ryan Palencer
PLAINFIELD — With the recent popularity of social networking websites, the police department here is looking to join the action.
In an attempt to open up communication with its residents, the Plainfield Police Department recently opened a Twitter account and a Facebook fan page.
“A lot of people use social networking websites for personal reasons,” said Lt. Jill Lees with the Plainfield Police Department. “Our main goals are to get as many people connected as we can. We have a lot of people who commute to work and live here. We want to get information out as instantaneously as we can.”
According to Lees, the department hopes this will help with road and traffic conditions, breaking news, crime prevention information as well as upcoming police department events. In addition, she has some ideas for the way Facebook can be used in a crime situation.
“(Social Networking websites) are a great tool to get information out quickly,” Lees said. “If police were investigating some vehicle break-ins, we can get the crime information out. We can tell people to keep their doors locked. If they are involved in retail crimes, we can also post pictures from the cameras. It can help with solving crimes as well.”
Though there are no local police forces who use twitter, Lees said there are several others in other states.
Lees said the department has already seen comments to posts on its Facebook page.
“We have seen some positive comments,” she said. “One person said, ‘FYI this is a great service,’ another said, ‘Thanks, heading home from Fishers, thanks for the update.’”
Lees also said that the two websites go “hand-in-hand” and that all of the tweets are linked to the Facebook fan page.
To find the department on Twitter, search for Plainfield PD, and on Facebook, search for the Plainfield Police Department.
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
