Crime & Safety
@Solon Police: Solon Police on Twitter to Give Residents Instant Information
'Our goal is get the information out to the public in the fastest and most efficient manner,' said Lt. Bruce Felton
The Solon Police Department is expanding its social media efforts by creating a Twitter account used to alert citizens about road closures, emergency notifications, and accident information.
“Keeping the citizens informed is an important part of what the Solon Police Department does,” said Solon Police Lt. Bruce Felton. “Twitter is means of communicating with the citizens of Solon, while allowing the community to get a glimpse of the department’s personality.”
According to Felton, the department has been using Facebook and is quite pleased with the product but likes the instant and interactive nature of Twitter.
“With Twitter, we can get the message out 24 hours a day,” Felton said. “The nature of Facebook is we post and the community responds. With Twitter, we post a message and the community dialogues in real time.”
The department’s social media efforts are staffed by Lt. Felton and a systems manager. Lt. Felton said the department is in the process of reaching out to local vendors to manage the organization’s social media outreach platform.
“We are seeking a vendor that can manage the overall process with a specific target of having individual dispatchers sending out tweets to the public as soon as the information is processed and verified,” Lt. Felton said.
According to Lt. Felton, residents will only have to follow “@SolonPolice” by searching on their Twitter account.
“Our goal is get the information out to the public in the fastest and most-efficient manner. The information that we broadcast would be available to the public via Internet and on mobile devices ...”
The Solon Police Department will continue to use the city’s website for job listings and as a way to supplement its Twitter and Facebook postings.