by John Castelluccio
PEABODY – Now you can find the Peabody police on Twitter.
The department announced the launch of its Twitter account on Feb. 23.
“We are constantly looking to improve our services and using popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter will help us reach a more tech-savvy audience,” says Chief Robert Champagne, adding it’s simply another instrument in a growing communications toolbox. Police hope it will only improve communication with the public.
The force first joined the world of social networking last year (in February) on Facebook.
The Twitter account was set up to work with the department’s community notification system via text messages, which also just recently rolled out. When police send out a text or e-mail alert through Nixle, it will automatically publish to Twitter, as well.
One recent example of a public notice was on March 3 during a power outage in West Peabody that was a residual effect of the fierce storm on Feb. 25. Digital alerts were posted that afternoon directing residents call the light plant for more information.
“In the past year we have made a real push to update and bring in some new technology to the Police Department. We have always been progressive with internal technology to assist officers with their job functions. Now we are trying to extend that same practice to reach out and further improve community relations, said Detective Peter Olson, who is a department spokesperson along with Capt. Dennis Bonaiuto.
Olson noted that Twitter is just the latest in a number of communicational tools the department has employed over the past year to offer more ways for the public to receive updates from police. First there was TIPS411 (an anonymous text message tip program), then Facebook, Nixle, and now Twitter.
“Some people use Facebook, some Twitter, and for those that don’t, they can still receive information directly to e-mail or text message,” said Olson.
And Deputy Chief Martin Cohan says there’s still more in the works, which will be released soon.
You can check out the Peabody police on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Peabody-MA/Peabody-Police-Department/51207034332 or follow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/peabodypolice.
