Seattle residents now have the option of following the local police department on Twitter. In a first-of-a-kind program, the city's authorities are launching a new initiative that involves cops translating the news they get on the streets to tweets.
Dubbed "Tweets-by-beat," this program attempts to replace the police blotter that normally runs in local papers with a tech version of basically the same thing, according to the New York Times. When residents follow the department on the social network, they'll get routine tweets of the up-to-the-moment crime happenings in their neighborhoods.
"Liquor violation -- intoxicated person," read one tweet today. "Accident investigation at 5 Ave/James St," read another.
Fifty-one neighborhoods are involved with Tweets-by-beat and most all crimes and emergencies happening in these areas are broadcast on Twitter. According to the New York Times, the only crimes excluded are those that deal with sexual assault and domestic violence. While the tweets are timely, they are still posted one hour after police learn of the crime to avoid onlookers and gawkers.
"More and more people want to know what's going on on their piece of the rock," Seattle chief of police John Diaz ... [Read more]
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