Boston police and other police departments use Twitter to aid in the capture of suspects.

Twitter communities also have to be convinced that police are fully transparent. When a suspect bit a police officer’s arm in south Boston in late May, the news was out on Twitter within minutes. Tweets followed the progress of the incident, from the arrest of the attacker to the hospital where the uniformed victim was being treated. Some in the cyber-audience wondered whether cops would be as open if the victim had not been one of their own.
“If that was a zombie bite, would you tell us?” one Tweeted.
“Yes, absolutely,” police posted back, not missing a beat.
The playful reply struck a chord across the Boston blogosphere—and appeared to convince the skeptics. The Boston police Twitter service signed up an additional 1,500 followers soon after the “zombie” call-and-response—bringing the total number of subscribers to more than 4,000, according to Sgt. James Meredith, who oversees the Twitter account for the Boston police.
Meredith, an 18-year veteran of the Boston force, concedes that most people who signed up may have been attracted by the entertainment value, but “that’s fine with me.” Whatever gets the public through the door will help police provide a better service to their communities, Meredith said. Now, if Boston PD needs the public’s help to locate a suspect, for example, they can count on a large number of potential helpers from their built-in Twitter audience. “[The zombie bite exchange] showed that there’s a different side to the police department.” Boston PD also doesn’t send out a huge number of messages with suspect descriptions, which other police departments are increasingly doing. The Boston Twitter service is not intended to solve crimes, cautions Meredith, although he adds that the force may consider using the network for Amber Alerts.
“Cops are pretty secretive with their personal lives,” said Shipley. “Most in law enforcement have caller ID block, an unlisted phone number and try to get their home address and information removed from search engines. So opening up online puts you in a precarious situation.”
Police management isn’t helping matters. According to Shipley, law enforcement higher-ups are increasingly tracking officers’ personal sites and blogs and punishing them for the content. “The more agencies, during their hiring practices and post employment, look at the Internet as a source of information about officers’ lives outside of work, the more officers will fear posting,” he said. “Those officers who can post or Tweet about non-work related things will be fine with the technology.”

Link:http://thecrimereport.org/2009/07/06/twitter-this/