Police use of twitter

Police Use of Twitter as a Means to Breakdown Barrier to its Community

Mobile Media & Social IT BMMS E-2011 Professor John W. Bakke

Seth E Dubin Guest Student, IT University of Copenhagen Georgia Institute of Technology ITU Student 3623439486 seth.dubin@gatech.edu

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Police Use of Twitter as a Means to Breakdown Barrier to its Community Seth E Dubin Guest Student, IT University of Copenhagen Georgia Institute of Technology ITU Student 3623439486 seth.dubin@gatech.edu

Abstract - This study investigates the role that the micro-blogging site Twitter plays in the public outreach of police departments. The era of mobile media has brought about people's expectations of instant gratification, and public authorities have adapted to these changes to form a closer bond with the communities they protect. Atlanta, Georgia area police departments' Twitter feeds were analyzed for trends in determining how exactly police decide to market themselves and break down barriers that once separated the authorities from those they protect.

Keywords - Police, Twitter, Public safety, Instant gratification, online community, authority, communication barrier 1. INTRODUCTION How does the mass media effect of police using Twitter break down the barriers between the police and the people they protect?

Age of instant gratification We live in a world where all of the information we could possibly want is at our fingertips (Greenfield 2006). The convergence of cell phones (particularly smart phones), the Internet, and social media has transformed society into one that craves, even expects, instant gratification. Not only do we want it all and want it now, but we also have an impulsive desire to share, spread, and discuss what is happening as it is happening. This is not detrimental to society,

however, as applications of new technology are able to foster an informative, connected, culturally diverse, and participative community of online users. Technologically active people have flocked to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to share their lives and to update themselves on the current trends and news stories in their communities.

Agencies, organizations, and companies have taken advantage of the social media movement and adapted their practices to follow the crowd and reach their clients, customers, and target base. Police departments have only recently caught on to the Twitter craze in attempts to reach their community and to break common misconceptions that may be held against them.

What is Twitter?

The focus of this study is police-use of Twitter.

So what is Twitter really? Twitter started in 2006 as a small micro-blogging website inspired by short messages made popular by SMS messaging. Twitter describes itself as a “realtime information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting� (Twitter 2011).

Twitter combines text messaging (mobile phones) and instant messaging (PC and Internet) with blogging and social networking to create the phenomena of micro-blogging, update-culture, micro-journalism, and locative-media (Crawford 2009 referenced in (Goggin 2011)). It’s an evolutionary spin-off of text-messaging, broadcast to many networks of people on many different technological platforms.

The essence of the service is the “tweet,” small strings of text limited to 140 characters in length.

A lot of information can be conveyed in a single tweet, however. Links to websites and photographs can we condensed at the end of a message, and hash tags (#) can be used to prioritize a word and connect the tweet to other tweets with the same hast tag designation. A Twitter user subscribes to other users and receives tweets in chronological order in the feed. Any tweet can be “re-tweeted” (RT) to pass the message on to one’s own subscribers.

In addition to the interface on www.Twitter.com, Twitter applications are available on multiple mobile phone models, as well as through SMS. The popularity of Twitter, coupled with the drastic increase in mobile Internet usage, has increased the number of Twitter users. A Pew Centre Study of the US reported that from December 2007 to April 2009, the number of Americans who had accessed Internet on their mobile phones had increased from 24% to 32% (Horrigan 2009 referenced in (Goggin 2011)).

Furthermore, as of September 2009, 54% of Internet users have access to wireless Internet on a laptop, cellphone, or other mobile device. Of those, 25% use Twitter or a similar service (Fox et al. 2009 referenced in (Goggin 2011)).

What is a mass media effect?

W. James Potter (2011) points out that “mass media effects” have been studied for decades, however no formal definition has surfaced. He therefore defines the term as “a change in an outcome within a person or social entity that is due to mass media influence following exposure to a mass media message or series of messages” (Potter 2011). In this case, the social entity is the pool of the 100 million Twitter subscribers who have access to the various police Twitter accounts. The change is the number of people the police reach through their tweets, and the outcome is the way the people react to the information and medium of delivery. Potter describes mass media, Twitter in our case, as “organizations that use technological channels to distribute messages for the purpose of attracting an increasingly large audience and conditioning -3-

those audiences for repeated exposures…” He argues that for an effect to occur, exposure to the medium must be constant so as to create a pattern of behavior, thought, and emotions.

(Potter 2011).

Because police are only now just starting to use Twitter to reach their public, the implications of this mass media effect are moving out of their latent phase and are only now starting to be noticed.

2. METHOD Police Twitters in the News To gain a comprehensive overview of police-use of Twitter, we can look to the news for examples of how the new media is used. Several instances of police departments utilizing Twitter to reach their communities have already been reported.

Reported from Melbourne, Australia, Victoria Police used Twitter to advocate a safe end-ofschool vacation for teenagers in November 2010.

“In this digital age, we know that young people turn to social media as a source of information and we encourage school leavers to follow Victoria Police on Twitter for safety messages and advice about celebrating safely,” Sgt Cowling said (AP 2010). The department used its account to post links to YouTube videos pertaining to safety, and updated messages on Friday night police patrols.

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) used Twitter experimentally for a different purpose.

Rather than tweeting to send safety messages out to its followers, SPD wanted its subscribers to see what an average day in the department was really like in order to dispel misconceptions. For twelve hours, SPD tweeted reports that were called into the department – everything from car accidents, suicide threats, and hang up calls. This resulted in a total of 478 tweets by the end of the day, irritating many of SPD’s Twitter subscribers. Many people reproved of the experiment, citing bad Twitter etiquette, causing the SPD to lose many followers. There were others who praised the SPD for sharing so much and for keeping the community informed. Other

police departments around the world emulated the experiment in their own cities. “It got people talking about crime in Seattle, which is at record low,” said Sgt Sean Whitcomb (Seelye 2011).

Fort Lauderdale’s Police Department in Florida issued a new release to promote their new Twitter to the public: “The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is proud to announce an official Twitter feed for the public and media. We believe that as technology advances, so should policing techniques. As such, we have created an official Twitter feed for public consumption.

The public and media can follow up-to-theminute "tweets" regarding police activity in the City of Fort Lauderdale. We strive to maintain all available avenues for the public to be informed of what is happening in the City of Fort Lauderdale.

Specifically, the feed will supply timely information regarding missing and wanted persons, general crime information, and other important information from the Police Department.

Journal Constitution 2010). As a city with high crime rates, Atlanta authorities should have a keen desire to adopt any method that can subdue crime and foster a tight-knit community of socially just people.

In this study, 11,140 subscribers follow Atlanta area police Twitters1. It was reported that 0.83% of total Twitter users were in metropolitan Atlanta2 (Sysomos Inc. 2010). This leaves a great gap between users in Atlanta and those following a police Twitter (around 95,000).

Sample I created a Twitter username especially to follow 13 police departments with an active Twitter account in the State of Georgia. Most of those followed serve the Metropolitan Atlanta area, which was rated the 5th most active city when it comes to tweeting. The top tweeting cities were determined by Tweet Grader based on users who enabled the “Location” setting (Tweet Grader 2010). The metropolitan area also receives the most crime in the state.

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department's official Twitter name is FLPD411. You can follow us by clicking on the following link: http://twitter.com/#!/FLPD411 For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com” (FLPD 2011).

Atlanta and Twitter For this study, I chose to focus on Twitter use in Atlanta area police departments as a focal location of similar demographics. Atlanta proved to be no exception in the move for Police Departments managing a Twitter feed.

Atlanta is the capital city of Georgia, a state in southeastern United States of America. The State of Georgia had 9,687,653 residents in 2010, of which 60%, or 5,831,778, live in Metropolitan Atlanta (US Census Bureau 2011). In 2010, Atlanta had also ranked 25th in the top 400 US cities with the highest crime rates (Atlanta -4-

Police Departments Followed for this Study

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As of 21 November 2011 These findings reflect the last quarter of 2009, in which only 13 million Twitter accounts were analyzed. It is reported that Twitter now has 100 million users.

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Procedure Using an Excel spreadsheet, I collected data from the police departments' Twitter pages including membership date (the date the account was activated) and the days of active membership (as of November 1, 2011), number of tweets, and number of followers (how many people subscribe to their tweets).

Crime Visualization, Atlanta, GA (MapATL 2010)

I determined that most, if not all, tweets were categorizable into the following types: Traffic tweets, friendly neighbor tweets, public safety tweets, crime tweets, and re-tweets.

I collected sample tweets from each category from each account and compiled them into the spreadsheet for comparison. [see Appendix] 3. RESULTS Categorized Tweets I observed that every tweet collected during the study that was published by an Atlanta area police department can be categorized under one of five categories: Traffic Tweets served to warn commuters of possible delays and routes to avoid. This serves as a public service, saving travelers the inconvenience and hassle of delays.

“AVOID **1780 Villa Rica Hwy** for the next **couple of hours** due to traffic incident. Both lanes closed” (@Paulding Sherriff).

Public Safety Tweets served as preventative measures to keep the community out of harm.

These messages were often tips and suggestions such as how to keep hydrated, how to avoid crime, and how to prepare for severe weather.

They did not discuss actual crimes, but rather warned of possible dangers.

“Just a reminder to protect your purchases from theft while you are holiday shopping” (@CobbCoPDPct4).

Police departments’ Twitter accounts followed for this study (2011) -5-

Friendly Neighbor Tweets served to promote the police departments as friendly people who are there with and for the community. Messages advertised public events that the police would be present at and expressed their excitement to be involved in their communities.

“The Town of Tyrone invites you to join us for our Annual Christmas Tree Lighting on December 3, 2010 from 6 to 9.” (@TyronePolice) Crime Tweets served to alert the community of crimes that had been committed or solved. The messages often asked the followers’ help in sending in tips helpful in solving the case.

“STOLEN VEHICLE: lookout on a BLACK 2004 Pontiac Aztec (Ga. Tag# BMT8755) - if you see it, call 911 - never approach or confront!” (@RoswellGAPolice) Retweets served to pass along, or forward, tweets from other people who the police thought would benefit from receiving the message. The tweets usually pertained to the same local community as the police department.

“Atlanta weather: Sunny, chilly, 53degree high [link]” (@SandySpringsPD) Frequency of tweets In total, the police departments followed were active for a total 10,686 days. During this time (April 2008 - November 2011), a cumulative 6,575 tweets were published. This averages one tweet per every 1.6 days. Some departments tweeted only once a week, while some tweeted multiple times a day.

The Dunwoody Police Department (DPD) in Atlanta, Georgia has been quick to embrace Twitter as one of its communication techniques.

"It's about transparency," said Chief Billy Grogan of the Dunwoody Police Department.

"We want people to trust us and trust what we do," he said. "People are connected 24-7.

Everyone has a smart phone. So, when you want to push information out, this is a good way to do it" (Fehely 2011). The Dunwoody Police constantly update their Twitter with tweets about what they are up to in terms of arrests, picking up truants, funny stories from the day, as well as updating their followers on crime prevention tips, appeals for crime information, reminders about road closings, and reminders about community meetings.

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The Dunwoody Police Department have also embraced Twitter as a participatory opportunity and link for citizens to make their concerns and voices heard. By tagging the department, @DunwoodyPolice for example, in a tweet, both the police department and any other followers will see the message. This gives the authorities the incentive to respond to improve their image.

Jeremy Berry, of Dunwoody, Georgia, explains how he used Twitter to get results fast from the DPD. When jogging along the road one morning, he was irked by a dangerous intersection where no cars stop at the stop sign. Immediately, while still jogging, he was able to tweet the police. "I had mentioned this to the police via Twitter, and they started enforcing that stop sign and they wrote eight tickets, specifically at my request that they monitor that stop sign," Berry said (Rowson 2011).

4. DISCUSSION Affordances of Twitter in Police-Use People are constantly on the move, and they want information instantly and in brief formats.

Twitter is able to deliver the instant-gratification that the public desires, and police are able to exploit this advantage to connect to the people.

"We need to be smarter about the way we communicate with people," Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay of the Melbourne Police Department said. "Certainly, this is one way that we're trying to communicate our issues, our concerns with young people,” (AAP 2009).

Young people are not the only target crowd that can be reached on Twitter, however. Several studies show that the fastest growing audience on social media sites are people 59 years and older (Patton 2011). Many people hold the stereotype that Twitter is just a tool for socializing and timewasting gossip (Sternstein 2010), however the police use of the social networking site has proven to “demonstrate productivity, rather than erode it” (Dumenco 2010).

Twitter also creates a sense of an inclusive community involving the authorities with the people they serve. Twitter is inherently participatory. Users are able to receive the message, pass along the message, and even respond to the message in a conversation-like manner. This changes the information society in fostering a tight-knit community (Goggin 2011).

This interaction connects people who may have never been connected, creating a more vibrant, socially diverse urban population (Crawford 2008 referenced in (Goggin 2011)).

Additionally, it is suggested that police use Twitter and other social media sights to keep peace and to stay up to date with the public. Dr. Paul Reilly of the University of Leicester said “every territorial force now has a Twitter feed as part of steps being taken to use this took to engage and provide accurate information and stop rumors circulating,” (O'Flaherty 2011).

Rumors spread like rapid fire on online forums, so it is important that authorities are present to dispel myths and keep subsequent riots from occurring. People turn to their social medias first, and it is most often the case that one can tell what is news by looking at the “trending” list, what is most talked about on Twitter at the moment. If police want to stay informed about and involved with the people they serve, they must be present in the social media as well.

To successfully establish a Twitter feed with a large influence, police departments should Tweet regularly, “or they risk losing their audience’s attention” (Sternstein 2010). Consistency in quality and trust is key, as authorities must meet the public’s expectations, and Twitter is a strong tool for building and sustaining these relationships.

The emergency calls ‘24 hour tweet experiment’ started by the Seattle Police Department aimed to improve the department’s image and reputation among the public. The Greater Manchester Police Department replicated Seattle’s experiment for the same purpose. Chief Constable Peter Fahy said, “Policing is often seen in very simple terms, with cops chasing robbers and locking them up. However, the -7-

reality is that this accounts for only part of the work they have to deal with. A lot of what we do is dealing with social problems such as missing children, people with mental-health problems and domestic abuse[…]What I am saying is that this work is not recognized in league tables and measurements – yet is a huge part of what we do” (Dumenco 2010).

If Public Safety via Twitter Becomes Widespread If Twitter usage by local authorities begins to grow into a common practice, moral questions may arise. Mobile media usage is predicted to eventually reach 90% of the world’s population.

Still, a large extent of this population will be restricted to SMS and calls only. Is it fair to deliver public safety information through an online service that only some or most of the community will receive? The same access to information should be available to everyone that the authorities serve. Problems will include no web-browser access on low-end phones, and high costs to attain such supporting hardware.

Hardware innovations and software restructuring will need to be explored as some public services begin relying on smart phone prevalence and usage (Heeks 2009 referenced in (Goggin 2011)).

5. CONCLUSION It is important for police to reach their community through whatever methods and media they have at their disposal. Twitter is widely used, instantaneous, and mobile. With Twitter comes immediacy, and police are finding it incredibly easy to publish press releases, safety alerts, and road closings with the click of one button. Police are therefore able to communicate directly with its citizens, eliminating the need to pass along information through third-party media. The social media service also puts the police on the same level as their community, making them more approachable. This serves a double purpose: police are able to see what is trending in the community at any specific moment in time, and the community is able to easily contact the police department without feeling any intimidation. Additionally, the police are able to update their tweets anywhere, and

followers will receive alerts anywhere with their mobile phones. The use of Twitter breaks down barriers of communication, misconception, and approachability, therefore creating a community of integrated citizens.

REFERENCES AAP. "VIC: Police use Twitter to target young drivers." AAP General News Wire, 07 23, 2009.

AP. "VIC: Police use Twitter to get message across." AAP General News Wire, 11 22, 2010.

Atlanta Journal Constitution. The city of Atlanta ranks 25th among U.S. cities with the highest crime rates. .

11 2, 2010. http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/20 10/dec/07/cq-press-city-crime-rankings-20102011/atlanta-ranks-25th-crime-ranking/ (accessed 12 6, 2011).

Dumenco, Simon. "How a Very Clever Police Department Is Using Twitter to Globally Brand - and Save -- Itself." Advertising Age, 10 22, 2010.

Fehely, Devin. "Dunwoody Police use Twitter to connect with community ." 11 Alive News, 04 08, 2011.

FLPD. "Fort Lauderdale Police Department Joins Twitter." Fort Lauderdale, FL: US Fed News Service, 10 09, 2011.

Goggin, Gerard. Global Mobile Media. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011.

Greenfield, Adam. Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2006.

MapATL. Visualizing Atlanta's Crime. 2010. http://crime.mapatl.com/ (accessed 12 6, 2011).

O'Flaherty, Kate. "More Police Take to Twitter."

The Inquirer, 11 24, 2011.

Patton, Carol. "Social Media: Not Just for Teens." Optometry Times, July/August 2011: 33.

Potter, W. James. "Conceptualizing Mass Media Effect." Journal of Communication 61 (2011): 896-915.

Rowson, Kevin. "Police help is one tweet away."

11 Alive News, 08 30, 2011.

Seelye, Katharin Q. "Twitter as Police Scanner Draws Feedback in Seattle: [National Desk]."

New York Times, 07 29, 2011.

Sternstein, Aliya. "Twitter Ties." Government Executive, 11 2010: 51-52.

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Sysomos Inc. Exploring the Use of Twitter Around the World.

01 15, 2010. http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/geograph y/ (accessed 12 1, 2011).

Tweet Grader. Top Tweeting Cities. 2010. http://tweet.grader.com/top/cities (accessed 11 21, 2011).

Twitter.

About Twitter.

2011. https://twitter.com/about (accessed 12 6, 2011).

US Census Bureau . State and County Quickfacts.

10 13, 2011. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13000.ht ml (accessed 12 6, 2011).

APPENDIX

Police Department Twitters in the Atlanta Area

Dekalb Police

Sandy Springs Police

Brunswick Police

Dawson County Sheriff

Paulding County Sheriff

Peachtree City PD

Tyrone Police

Roswell Police

Atlanta Police Dept

Woodstock Police, GA

SandySprings_PD

brunswickgapd

dawsonCOsheriff

PauldingSheriff

PTCpolice

TyronePolice

RoswellGAPolice

Atlanta_Police

WoodstockPD

Description

DekalbCountyPD

Account

The Official Twitter Feed of the Woodstock Police Department, Georgia. This account is not monitored for reports of incidents; please contact 9-­‐1-­‐1.

The OFFICIAL Twitter Feed of the Tyrone, Georgia Police Department.

Mission: The Roswell Police Department protects life and property, preserves the peace, and strives to prevent crime and disorder in the City of Roswell

Peachtree City Police Department is located in GA 30 minutes south of Atlanta

A premier agency recognized for integrity, professional law enforcement, community policing, and aggressive crime fighting.

We pledge to serve the community, build trust & confidence, respond to community needs with integrity, innovation, partnership, service & accountability.

Dekalb County Police 911 Decatur, Georgia Sandy Springs Police Department -­‐ Mission Statement -­‐ To prevent crime and enforce the laws through problem solving partnerships.

9/2/09

3/25/10

9/8/09

3/5/09

9/17/09

7/20/09

3/19/09

7/6/09

5/12/11

9/3/10

Since

810

971

804

932

795

854

977

868

193

444

Days Active

2985

107

85

189

68

965

58

58

333

53

Tweets as of 11/21/11

1989

1036

486

1097

483

644

134

77

214

236

Followers

Sample Public Safety Tweet

Sample Friendly Neighbor Tweet Sample Crime Tweet

Sample Retweet

SSPD -­‐ Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water today in our extreme heat. Make sure your outdoor pets have plenty of water and shade.

Join us for National Night Out tomorrow evening at 6m at McIntyre Court! Fun, food, and a chance to be a part of a national event!

Information needed in recent homicides of Tytus Alston and Tyrone Sweeting. Silent Witness (912)267-­‐5516 x

Sandy Springs Police -­‐ Thanks to all that attended our SSPD open Sandy Springs police ask Atlanta weather: Sunny, house. It was a huge success! public help in finding girl's chilly, 53-­‐degree high [pic] attacker [link]

If anyone can assist in The Veteran’s Day Parade is identifying the following Bright lights scheduled for Friday, November suspect, please contact tonight...Night of Blue 11th beginning at 4:00 pm. The INVESTIGATOR SIMPSON or Lights Oconee County parade will begin at...

CPL. JIMMY SMITH...

Civic Center.

All of the suspects accused AVOID **1780 Villa Rica Hwy** Halloween Safety: All High Risk of shooting at a Georgia for the next **couple of Sex Offenders' addresses Thank you to The Outpost Opry State Patrol Trooper in hours** due to traffic incident. verified. Chk our online registry Show for their support of Cherokee County are now Both lanes closed again b4 trick-­‐or-­‐treating [link] festival this past Saturday! in custody. x Peachtree International Triathlon 5-­‐14-­‐11 from 0700-­‐ Peachtree City Police remind all REMINDER! PD vs Youth Council Residential Burglaries -­‐ 1000. Expect traffic delays Hip residents to lock their vehicles Trivia Match tonight! 11/30/10 Reward offered. Follow Link Pocket, McIntosh Tr, Robinson and remove all valuables. See 7pm in the PTC Council to FB Note: Rd. email for full info.

Chambers. All invited.

RETWEET!!! [link] x The Town of Tyrone invites you Planned lane closures and Winter weather expected this to join us for our Annual Update: November 2009 traffic delays on Hwy 74 at the weekend, residents are urged to Christmas Tree Lighting on Crime Stats, Officer RR crossing in December. plan accordingly.

December 3, 2010 from 6 to 9. Awards. [link] x Did you know that RPD is asking everyone to stay STOLEN VEHICLE: lookout Police Officers have to off of the Rds in the City. The Meet some of your local heros on a BLACK 2004 Pontiac stay behind in the Oxbo Rd is closed between thawing & refreezing Rds have from the Roswell Police Aztec (Ga. Tag# BMT8755) -­‐ flooded Mississippi?

Dobbs Dr and Grimes Bridge Rd become more dangerous.

Department that were featured if you see it, call 911 -­‐ never Here is how you can due to power lines being down. Emergency travel only. in the Roswell Patch: [link] approach or confront! help... [link] Investigators made an I-­‐75/85/nb slammed arrest of a person from University Ave. to APD's LGBT employee alliance suspected of burglarizing 10th St. Yellow Jackets Mattress in the center lane of I-­‐ Officer Carrow of APD academy group will assist the LGBT the YMCA on Pryor rd. The kickoff after 8 p.m.

75/85 SB at Fulton St. HERO offers self-­‐defense tips for liaisons in collecting toys for the suspect admitted to 1 other Spring, other Midtown notified at 12:38pm. women. [link] 9th Annual Toy Party. in the area. streets jammed.

JOIN THE WPD TOMORROW, The WPD reminds all not to 11/12 10a-­‐2p for WPD's drink and drive this Children's Bike Rodeo at the 11/8 1643: Ofc. Oreto Thanksgiving. Always have a rear parking lot of the arrested a male at Target designated driver. Stay safe & Chambers at City Center. for Theft by Shoplifting x have an enjoyable holiday!

Helmets Required ($278.71) x

Remember that burglary is a Harmony Church Road and Hwy crime of opportunity. Making it 400 N currently shut down in hard on the criminal increases reference to a motor vehicle your chances of stopping them accident. before they get in.

Check out crimemapping.com Traffic Alert: G A Homecoming to see crime stats in your parade. Starting at Mansfield neighborhood! Choose and Albany going to Lanier Blvd. Brunswick GA PD from the H Coffin Prk. @ 2:40 today agency list to get started!

SSPD -­‐ Slow down and use caution in construction areas.

Anger over Johnson Ferry, Abernathy roads

Police need your help o Beautiful day in DeKalb County, capture four men that Multi-­‐Vehicle accident I-­‐85 GA! Use common sense folks; if Beautiful Spring day! Nice to be were involved in a South near N. Druid Hills Road. you see someone in your out meeting those neighbors 2 guns were stolen from a robbery/shooting.

Two right lanes are blocked. neighborhood that don't that have been trapped in all Gwinnett police officer's Submit an anonymous Expect delays in the area. belong, you might wanna call. winter! car over the weekend: tip to...

Sample Traffic Tweet

4/8/08

Alerts from the Georgia Tech Office of Emergency Preparedness. This account is NOT monitored for replies.

Georgia Tech Police Department

GaTechPD

4/2/09

This is the official Dunwoody Police Twitter account.

Dunwoody Police

DunwoodyPolice

10/29/09

Cobb County Police

CobbCoPDPct4

Cobb County Police Department Precinct Four-­‐ for use as critical or emergency text messaging to the community

1322

963

753

40

1624

10

11140

876

2640

1228

Armed person investigation at 3939 Roswell Rd proves no threat to the community. Further details Significant traffic jam, Piedmont Just a reminder to protect your at Rd at Rio Montana due to purchases from theft while you p4.police.cobbcountyga.go accident are holiday shopping Happy Thanksgiving v x #dunwoodypolice working an 5 juveniles, ages 12-­‐14, New Career Opportunity accident with injuires #285 EB arrested 4 stealing polo & with the City of at N Shallowford. Some lane Make sure to check the GA Sex Come out to Light up nike socks, underwear and Dunwoody: Deputy blockage Use caution in the Offender website before trick or Dunwoody & donate gift to t-­‐shirts from Macy's. They Municipal Court Clerk area. #atltraffic treating this evening. [link] Christmas for Kids. Not too late. are starting out young... [link] Graduating Seniors, don't miss Please be vigilant and report the Commencement Fair in the Walkway between Petit (MiRC) anything that seems out of the Ball Room of the Student and College of Computing ordinary. Ordinary citizens, like Center!! Be sure to stop by the closed until incident clears. you, make a difference GTPD table for a gift!! x x