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Social networking sites connect local agencies

Staff photo by Nick Daggy Oxford Police Department Sgt. Jim Squance.

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By Tiffany Y. Latta, Staff Writer Updated 11:01 AM Tuesday, November 24, 2009

HAMILTON — When Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones closed two area jails, he did so in less than 140 characters – 69 to be exact: I will be closing 2 of butler county’s jails this date. Sheriff jones

Jones tweeted that message on June 4 and has since announced plans to test explosives and the arrest of one of the county’s most wanted on Twitter.com, a social networking site.

Free social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are used mostly by people to connect with friends, but increasingly, law enforcement agencies are using the sites to notify the public instantly of serious crimes, arrests, accidents, traffic jams, weather emergencies, gas leaks and even water main breaks.

“We use everything we can that’s at our disposal to get information out there,’’ Jones said. “Probably a year from now there may be something different. But the good thing (about Twitter) is you can get information out as soon as you hit the (send) button and it’s uncensored.’’

Twitter is akin to an online bulletin board that allows users to post and receive messages or “tweets’’ of up to 140 characters.

Through Facebook, users can get friend status updates, social timelines, event invitations and share videos and photos.

Middletown and Hamilton police departments have yet to sign up. But both are considering it, though Middletown is concerned about someone hacking into the site, which has happened to Butler County and other agencies.

Still, Oxford police say Facebook and MySpace are the most effective ways to communicate in a college town.

“Students are more apt to pay attention to text messages on their cell phone than our Web site. We’re using every available piece of technology we can find to get our message to them,” said Oxford police Sgt. Jim Squance.

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