STANWOOD — Stanwood police are going viral. Sort of.
The police department has started using social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to get out information.
They started using Twitter, a social networking site, late this past year, Stanwood Police Chief Ty Trenary said. They wanted to share alerts such as car prowl sprees and road closures from car accidents.
They soon found that Facebook worked better for people in Stanwood. They now have more than 200 Facebook friends.
People can use the police department’s Facebook page to tell police about problems they are having, Trenary said. It’s a good in-between step before people are frustrated enough to swing by the department or call 911.
“So far, we’ve gotten some good information when people have been concerned about something going on in the community,” he said.
The Facebook page includes crime prevention tips, local crime trends and the police activity blotters sent to media outlets.
The department’s social media efforts are being spearheaded by Sgt. Rob Barnett.
Stanwood police looked at other agencies their size and also big departments to see how they were using social media, Trenary said.
Above all, their goal with social media is to prevent people from becoming crime victims, he said.
“It’s another way of being connected to the stakeholders,” he said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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