iCrime Fighting

facebook.com/DallasPD

A heavyset, bearded man recently went on a robbery spree in Dallas. A security camera captured the guy holding up a Game Stop clerk. A few hours later, the Dallas Police Department had shared the video with its 400 YouTube subscribers, 8,000 or so Facebook fans and 7,000 Twitter followers. The police also posted the suspect’s image and other useful information about the search on Nixle, a nationwide network that alerts residents to public safety threats via text, Twitter or email (anyone can register free for Nixle alerts by zip code).

“I saw this guy at the train station,” wrote one Facebook user.

“He sure is ugly,” wrote another.

Though it gives them a certain amount of junk to sort through, and the Game Stop robber at the time of publication had not been caught, police say enhanced communication can only help an investigation and encourage more people to help.

“It’s a way of getting involved without getting too involved,” Sgt. Israel Herrera says about both social media tools and the relatively new crime-fighting tool iWatch. The smart phone application allows users to give anonymous tips to police. The Dallas Police Department reports that since its launch last January, it has received about 1,135 iWatch tips, many leading to arrests.

Dallas Police YouTube Channel

youtube.com/

DallasPoliceDept

Dallas Police post surveillance videos of crimes on the DPD You Tube channel. The popular video-sharing site allows police to seek the public’s help in identifying suspects as well as locating missing people and solving various types of cases.

iWatch App

dallaspolice.net

The iWatch appprovidesthree options: Send in a text only, send in a text with a picture, or send an anonymous tip. You can also text a tip by typing DPD plus your tip to 274637, or you can call 214.671.4TIP.

iReligion

Neighborhood resident Catherine Dodge used social media to spark more interest in her church, Kessler Park United Methodist Church, among younger people. She joined the church in 2008, and even though she liked its progressive beliefs, she lost interest quickly because she didn’t make friends. The church has programs for children, families and seniors, but as a young single woman with no children, she found no niche for herself in the church.

That’s what she told Rev. David Carr after he took over as pastor last year.

“He said, ‘What can we do to bring more people your age in? Because I know there are people like you who have had the same experience,’ ” Dodge recalls.

Her solution is called Generation Next, a social media push to introduce the church to younger, tech savvier people.

Without an online presence, “the church kind of didn’t exist for us because we find everything online,” she says. “You’re not really communicating with this large number of people.”

Without online pres-

In just one year, Generation Next has resulted in a vibrant and active group of diverse members.

She started by updating the church’s website, which hadn’t been touched in about six years. She created a Facebook page, and she checks in on Facebook every Sunday to let her friends know where she is. Most people ages 25-40 won’t take an organization seriously if it doesn’t have an active website. And they are unlikely to find a new website unless it comes across their Facebook or Twitter feeds.

Catherine Dodge Kessler Park United Methodist Church’ s Generation Next

Dodge’s social media efforts paid off quickly. In just one year, Generation Next has resulted in a vibrant and active group of diverse members. Nowadays, most visitors say they find the church through Google searches. Best of all, reviving the church’s membership this way was inexpensive. Social media is a smart way to publicize a nonprofit that lacks funds for other forms of advertising, Dodge says.

iNeighborhood

Several Oak Cliff neighborhood associations have used the same tactics. Winnetka Heights Neighborhood Association, for example, has kept an up-to-date website with chat forums several years now. But the neighborhood association’s Facebook page, which has been active for less than year, is a way to drive neighbors to website. Hits to the site have increased significantly since the associastarted using Facebook, Winnetka Heights Neighborhood Association president Lee Ruiz says.

“People are on Facebook so often so regularly that information reaches people right away,” Ruiz says. the other hand, they have to think about going to the neighborhood web page.”

Ruiz often posts links to informaon the website regarding neighborhood parties, contests, and city and zoning issues, for example. Neighbors use the association Facebook page to alert neighbors to lost pets, property crimes, suspicious activity and more.

In Kings Highway, neighborhood association leaders have used social

Social media is the first place to look to find out what’s going on in the neighborhood.

Jonathan Braddick Kings Highway Conservation District

facebook.com SEARCH: Kings Highway Conservation District media to organize workdays and fundraisers. A tag sale in September drew shoppers from all over the city, thanks to social media blasts.

Neighbor Jonathan Braddick says social media is the first place to look to find out what’s going on in the neighborhood. But, he says, it’s a mistake to go away from print media advertising entirely.

“If we have the money, we will go with tried and true print media,” he says. “If we can afford it, which usually we can’t, we like to do direct mail.”

Glossary Foursquare

Foursquare (n) A location-based mobile check-in service. The mobile app uses the GPS on your phone to help you check in at coffee shops, restaurants, bars, libraries, parks, events and other locations. Your Foursquare friends can view the places you’re hanging out, and some businesses offer specials to customers who show on their phone that they’ve checked in on Foursquare. You also can earn points and virtual badges for different check-in adventures.

Check in (v),check-in (n) The act of telling a location-based mobile service like Foursquare, Yelp or Facebook where you are, usually with that service’s smartphone app. Check-ins let your friends and followers see where you are and where you like to hang out. Used in a sentence: “Hang on, I’m going to check in on Facebook before we order drinks.“ “Hey, cool; I earned the Great Outdoors badge with that last Foursquare check-in at the park.”