"It kind of gives people a more inside look on the things that we deal with on a daily basis," said Pekin police Det. Mike Eeten, the department's public information officer.
Monthly "virtual ride-alongs" through Facebook’s Livestream application began as a pilot program for the Pekin Police Department two months ago, and it's just one of the ways Pekin police, and other law enforcement agencies, connect with their communities. Over the last few years, daily updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have become a large part of Eeten’s job description. Two other officers now help him run the accounts by creating posts that detail local news, current crime and emergency announcements.
And Pekin is listening.
Since the department created its Facebook page almost five years ago, nearly 21,000 people have started to follow it. Analytics monitored by the department show an average post will create 150,000 "impressions" — the total number of times a piece of content is displayed online — and each one often becomes a catalyst for community-wide discussion.
"It’s become one of the biggest assets we have," Eeten said.
Every felony arrest made by Pekin police is documented online with a short summary and a mugshot. When a case is getting cold and detectives are looking for leads, they turn to the community for help, Eeten said. They often receive messages about crimes online within minutes of creating a post.
Educational videos about ongoing investigations and preventative measures for how to keep from becoming the victim of a crime. Most recently, the department launched a video series titled "Faces of Heroin" to chronicle the lives of people affected by heroin abuse and bring awareness to an issue Eeten said is all too prevalent in the community.
And as the conversation continues to move online, most area police departments are following suit.
About 65 percent of American adults are active on social media platforms, an increase of tenfold in 10 years, according to a 2015 study of social media habits by Pew Research Center. The study found young adults are most likely to use social media, but use by seniors age 65 and older tripled since 2010.
Broader uses of social media by local police and other emergency service agencies increased steadily on the national scale during the last five years. A survey conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 2015 found 96 percent of law enforcement agencies now use social media in some capacity. Most common applications of the tool were criminal investigations, notifying the public of ongoing crime problems and community outreach, according to the survey of 553 law enforcement agencies in 44 states.
Usage guidelines implemented by local law enforcement agencies mirror others around the country with respect to monitoring the conversations generated on social media and removing content that contains profanity, racist remarks or offensive material. To put it simply, said Washington Police Deputy Chief Jeff Stephens, it’s about keeping people engaged with content while keeping it civil.
But, he said, part of it is about having fun, too.
An emergency weather update was sent out July 21 on Washington Police Department’s Facebook page asking residents to stay cool amid the heat.
"It’s kinda hot. And humid, relatively speaking. Please don’t do anything stupid. Thanks," the post read.
It was "liked" more than 750 times and shared by users more than 500 times, making it one of the most widely seen posts the department has put up, Stephens said. Some of the success the department has had with the page, he said, can be attributed to being funny when it's appropriate to get noticed, so people recognize that the page is there for them.
“It has been a good way to talk to people that we wouldn’t otherwise have a conversation with,” Stephens said.
Chris Helle, director of the Fulton County Emergency Services Disaster Agency, agreed.
“We get the community involved and we give them a chance to feel included, because it’s their page,” he said.
Residents of Fulton County often turn to the ESDA Facebook page as the initial information resource for potential weather disasters, Helle said, and having a direct line of communication to the public during a severe storm is invaluable.
“You take a large disaster, and you have to call 30 people ... It takes a lot of time,” he said.
While many other agencies are getting involved on the web, the Pekin Police Department has a larger Facebook following than any other law enforcement page in Greater Peoria. Creating daily content, staying tuned to what people are saying and keeping current are all important aspects of doing the job, Eeten said.
“We work very hard to be a department that’s transparent with what we do, and I think that’s important to policing today,” he said.
©2016 the Journal Star (Peoria, Ill.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
