The times, they are a changin’ — and the City of Bradford Police are taking law enforcement into the age of social media.
On Monday, a new website for the police department launched. The site — set up through an organization called CRIMEWATCH Pennsylvania — is tied to Facebook and Twitter.
The site can be reached at https://mckean.crimewatchpa.com/bradfordpd
and allows users to sign up for free notifications.
A lot of younger folks turn to social media for information rather than traditional news outlets, and this website will allow the police to reach the younger audience with information, too, explained Police Chief Chris Lucco.
“My hope for this is twofold,” the chief said. “One is to alert people of situations as they are unfolding, for major emergencies and for assistance from the public when we need help. And it’s letting the public know what their tax dollars are paying for us to do.”
Lucco said he believes a lot of what officers do in a day is unknown to the public.
“I don’t think people are really in touch with what we do,” he said.
The police have been using Facebook as a tool for a while, like posting pictures from surveillance cameras and asking for the public’s help identifying someone.
“I’ve seen posts we’ve put out there that have been viewed over 20,000 times,” Lucco said. “Hopefully, with this tool, we will see those numbers increase.”
He added, “I don’t suspect we’re going to have a huge reduction in crimes with this tool. But it will let people know where crimes occur and it gives them the opportunity to submit tips.”
The site gives news releases from the station, shows photos of people wanted on outstanding warrants, gives information about incidents and cases, and offers links to sites like Megan’s Law and the city government.
There’s even a place for businesses and citizens to register their security cameras with the police.
“That simply means if there is a crime in that area, we know who might have a camera in the location,” Lucco said. “It would be up to that person if they wanted to allow us to view it.
“It doesn’t give us any sort of access to their cameras, but is simply a database of where cameras are located,” he explained.
