The Columbus Police Department is making heavy use of its Twitter account two weeks after it went live.
Since Nov. 23, when the account — @Columbus_MS_PD — went live, the department has posted 42 “tweets.” CPD uses the social media tool to provide the public updates on reported crimes, accidents, street closures and officer presence.
CPD Interim Chief Fred Shelton said two city IT Department employees currently operate the account.
“They send a proof to me and let me look at it and make sure it fits the guidelines of what we want to share,” Shelton told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “If everything is good then we go ahead and send it out. Eventually we’re going to train our supervisors to do it. We don’t do that right now, because we want to keep people out on the street.”
Shelton said one of the account’s goals is to provide real-time updates on matters the department is handling. Another goal, he said, is to forge a better relationship between the community and CPD.
So far, Shelton said, it seems to be garnering positive feedback.
“One person said we’re actually being more transparent and letting people know what’s going on so they don’t have to guess or think we’re hiding something,” he said. “If we’re working a murder investigation, we’re working a murder investigation. That’s not going to change and there’s nothing that’s going to be hurt from the public knowing that.
“If we haven’t caught a suspect or they’ve fled and are on the loose, the public certainly has a right to know that,” he added.
CPD has also used its Twitter account to seek public assistance in ongoing investigations. Investigators have been working for the past several days to identify a man believed to be responsible for several felony shoplifting incidents at local department stores.
On Tuesday, CPD posted several security camera videos of the suspect in Lowe’s. The videos show the man entering the store, loading a shopping cart with hand tools, leaving the store and loading the tools into a car.
CPD asked anyone who might be able to identify the suspect to call 800-530-7151.
CPD Investigator Tommy Watkins said putting information such as the videos of the shoplifting suspect will likely prove to be valuable in the long term for the department because its easily accessible 24/7.
“You can look at Twitter at any time,” Watkins said. “You can see it. It’s up at all times unless it’s taken off. In the long run, I think it’s going to be good for us. I like it.”
In addition to crimes, CPD has also used the Twitter feed to inform the public of street closures, such as the Wednesday closure of Fifth Street in front of the Trotter Convention Center for repaving.
The department has also posted officer presence at stores during the heavy shopping period after Thanksgiving. Shelton said that came partly as a response to recent concerns about safety in the downtown area.
“People, especially in the downtown area, have been concerned,” he said. “It’s shopping season and people want to feel safe. Posting information that we’ve got officers out there during those times helps to make everyone feel safer.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
