Police said tips from the public helped them identify Edith Hodak as the suspect in a Sept. 18 holdup at People’s United Bank based on surveillance photos posted to its Facebook page within hours of the robbery.
Those photos and two announcements of Hodak’s arrest garnered significant attention on the department’s Facebook page, where they were seen by dozens of residents and media outlets that distributed that information on their own sites.
That case is the latest example of how area police departments are using social media as a place where they can share information with the public and perhaps get valuable tips in return.
Researchers say that kind of activity is on the rise with departments nationwide.
“Basically what we’ve seen over the past five years is a huge increase in the use of social media by police for many, many things,” said John DeCarlo, a former Branford police chief and a professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven. “Social media’s been a real game-changer in the sense that it allows departments to communicate directly with the larger public.”
DeCarlo, who retired as Branford chief in 2011, started the Branford Facebook page where Hodak’s arrest was recently announced. Its earliest post appears to be from March 8, 2010.
He said research has shown that police departments have much higher “clearance rates” for their cases when the public helps with investigations. Outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, he said, can be another tool to allow the public to contribute.
DeCarlo said there are anecdotal reports from police agencies that social media postings have increased the number of leads they get during investigations. However, he said, hard evidence of that trend is still being researched.
DeCarlo said social media also makes it easier for police to publicize the news they want people to see and departments are taking advantage of that — especially in light of the negative attention that has been focused on police nationwide since mid-2014.
“For years and years, police departments were overly insular,” DeCarlo said. “Social media has really given them the opportunity to kind of turn that around and show them some of the good work they’re doing.”
In Hamden, the Police Department used its and pages to quickly post information about bank robberies in August and September.
Those cases remain under investigation. However, Detective John Marks, who maintains those pages and the department’s Instagram account, said social media have played a role in solving several cases by generating tips from followers or getting the information out to media outlets who broadcast it and encourage people to call in with information.
The Facebook and Twitter pages were online for years but were mostly inactive until Marks took over the role this year.
“From that point until now, it’s just exploded for us, not only in terms of the outreach but in terms of the intake of information as well,” Police Chief Thomas Wydra said. “I was grateful to have somebody who had such a strong interest.”
The department also added in August.
Marks, a veteran with nearly 20 years of experience, said his interest stems from use of his personal social media accounts. He said the department tries to put out information quickly at all times, a marked contrast to just a few years ago when the goal was to make details available for traditional media deadlines, such as the 6 p.m. news.
“Now with social media, we’re able to grab a photo right at the scene, tweet it or put it on Facebook, and get that information (out),” Marks said. “A lot of our followers will retweet or share it and information spreads quickly and that’s a benefit.”
During a major incident, Marks works closely with Capt. Ronald Smith, the department’s media spokesman, to figure out what details should be posted and when. Wydra also keeps an eye on the department’s pages.
He said the department does have to do a balancing act to figure out what information it should release without compromising details that need to be kept confidential. He said Marks has the experience and judgment to know what ought to be posted.
“The public’s right to know exists and we treasure that, we embrace that,” Wydra said. “We’re not going to jeopardize an investigation, though.”
Marks’ posts aren’t just limited to crimes or incidents, however. The department’s pages show a mix of community events and department news.
After the interview for this story, Marks posted attending a two-week SWAT training school.
Alan Brown, an assistant professor of sociology at Southern Connecticut State University, also said police departments are using their social media presence to gather clues about crimes and suspects and to solicit information from the public.
“This is a definite shift in terms of how police departments and police officers can develop more positive relationships with their communities,” he said.
One area of concern, according to Brown, is that once information is published online, people can react to it or repost it in ways that might not be constructive.
He pointed to an Oct. 12 post in the Facebook group “East Haven Neighborhood Crime Watch,” which linked to a Patch article titled: “Sex Offender Map: East Haven Homes to be Aware of This Halloween.”
Brown said research about sex offenders has shown they usually do not randomly target people in public. However, the public has a desire to know some information and agencies try to meet that demand, sometimes with unintended results.
“Once stuff is out there, you just never know how people are going to use it,” he said.
In Greater New Haven, nearly a dozen police departments have active Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Area departments all have different approaches with regard to what they share, how often they do so and how long they leave it up.
Orange Assistant Police Chief Anthony Cuozzo said that town’s department has been active on , and since December 2014.
“The chief thought and we all agreed that it was important to have more communication with the public and we felt the easiest way to do that would be through Facebook and Twitter,” he said.
The department regularly posts information for everything from infractions to felony arrests, as well as notices to the community and more detailed information and mugshots for notable cases, such as the July arrest of an Ansonia man in connection with several shed break-ins.
Cuozzo said most arrest information is posted by Gary Canapinno, the department’s Records Division supervisor, who is familiar with the state’s public-disclosure laws.
Sometimes there can be several arrest posts on the page but Cuozzo said people also email him with different kinds of content to post. This week, for instance, the department will have posts related to Teen Safe Driving Week.
“We really didn’t want to make it strictly a blotter, but we’re busy,” Cuozzo said. “We try to keep putting in that public service information as well but it is a difficult balance sometimes.”
He said having a social media presence has helped the department, generating tips from the public about traffic problems and other issues around town and allowing the department to get out important information in emergency situations, such as a storm.
The state police, which has resident troopers in towns such as Bethany, has greatly increased its social media use over the past year. The agency has active , and pages overseen by Trooper Tyler Weerden and Trooper First Class Kelly Grant.
Weerden, who does many of the posts, said state police are trying to reach larger numbers of people who are getting their news from websites and apps on their phones than from traditional media like television and newspapers.
“We’re just trying to put out as much information as we can to keep everyone informed, up to date and ultimately feeling safer,” he said.
He said the pages have been helpful. The state police sometimes puts out posts about crime trends, such as break-ins in certain towns, and that’s getting people to change their behavior and take steps to protect themselves, such as stowing their valuables, Weerden said.
And the state police have been able to put out some information from a crime, like a suspect’s photo, and get help from a large swath of the public.
“Where else can we get 100,000 people to look at a suspect’s photo and try to identify them?” Weerden said.
The pages can also help people feel more comfortable interacting with the state police. People can leave comments or questions and get a response online, whereas they might rarely talk to a trooper in person.
Weerden said the state police are careful when making posts, balancing the public’s right to know with a victim’s right to privacy and the need to preserve the integrity of an investigation.
“We follow the same guidelines that we would normally follow in a press release or a press conference,” he said. “We’re not changing the rules; it’s just a different medium.”
For West Haven, is a mix of police news and incident briefs, many of which include arrest details and mugshots, police spokesman Sgt. David Tammaro said in an email. Tammaro said the department’s Facebook page has been up for about three years and is overseen by his unit and Chief John Karajanis.
“We try and put interesting articles, information or arrests on there that usually generate a lot of public response,” he wrote. “Arrests are usually deleted the next day. Warnings or other information may be longer, depending on if our incidents are still occurring.”
Tammaro said arrests are deleted after a day because those posts attract negative comments that have to be deleted, requiring the page to be frequently monitored.
However, it isn’t just department pages that are helping police get tips; in some cases community pages have played a role in solving a crime.
, West Haven police said they have recovered a Keeway Hurricane scooter stolen from a local home Oct. 17. A picture of the scooter was posted to the Facebook page “” and one of its viewers called police to say she had seen teenagers riding it. Police found the scooter and arrested a 13-year-old boy in connection with the theft.
The New Haven Police Department but posts haven’t been made there since July 2013. The department does not have a Twitter page. The department has previously requested a civilian liaison to manage its social media pages but the position hasn’t been funded.
Its spokesman, Officer David Hartman, frequently sends information about incidents to media outlets and distributes multipage flash sheets with information about incidents in New Haven and elsewhere, department events and press coverage of the department. That’s in addition to interviews and project work with local, statewide and national media outlets, as well as in-person appearances for updates at major crime scenes, such as homicides.
“I deal with the press and it’s a full-time job in this department,” Hartman said.
Given the size of the city and department, Hartman said there is a large amount of information that needs to be put out. That leaves little time to frequently post on social media pages or monitor them, responding to comments and questions and pruning away derogatory comments or posts. Without that interaction, Hartman said he’d be doing a disservice to the people who followed the pages.
Hartman said having a designated person for social media remains a priority for Chief Dean Esserman.
“He is so intent on making sure that information we have gets out to those who want it,” he said. “He wants an informed public. He is a transparency chief.”
©2015 the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
