Certain Massachusetts residents wondering about patrol car lights flashing or audible police sirens can now take to Twitter to satisfy their curiosity. Across the Charles River from Boston, Mass., the people of Cambridge
who follow local law enforcement on Twitter will now be privy to up-to-the-minute information on high-profile incidents such as break-ins, assaults and other emergencies.
The new system, which uses code that interacts with the dispatch system, and a program written in conjunction with city emergency communications staff, replaces a manual notification-by-tweet system. Automatic notifications will be sent around the clock, according to
BostInno.
Seattle police use a similar tactic called "Tweets-by-beat," in which hyper-localized crime data is available via the popular micro-blogging platform.
"We believe strongly in the ability of social media to communicate with the public in a timely manner," said Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas in a
statement. "And tweeting information about serious incidents will better inform our residents about what types of incidents police are responding to in their community."
Photo of Harvard University's Memorial Hall in Cambridge, Mass., courtesy of Shutterstock
Noelle Knell is the executive editor for e.Republic, responsible for setting the overall direction for e.Republic’s editorial platforms, including Government Technology, Governing, Industry Insider, Emergency Management and the Center for Digital Education. She has been with e.Republic since 2011, and has decades of writing, editing and leadership experience. A California native, Noelle has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history.
