Baltimore City PD misses the boat on Twitter?
Bridget Forney raises some good points:
In breaking news of the past 24 hours, information was released by the Baltimore Police Department about a series of rapes that happened recently in the city. Apparently, some of the rapes have happened near bus stops, with the offender approaching women waiting for the next terminal and making threats to successfully lure them into dimly-lit areas. One victim is a 55-year old woman who was waiting for the bus after a late night church service.
The question raised by the Baltimore Sun: with more than five rapes over the past two weeks, and some that are believed to be related, why are we just hearing about it now?
The Baltimore Police Department is on Twitter @BaltimorePolice, but they’re known for tweeting about shootings that have happened, arrests that have been made and people who’ve been injured. Notice all three of those items are read in the past tense. Tweeting about what’s happening now, specifically in the circumstance of the aforementioned rapes, could raise awareness about predators and possibly in the end, save lives. Isn’t that the whole point of having the Baltimore Police Department on Twitter to begin with?
While tweeting about such dramatic and sensitive circumstances could raise awareness about these rapes, maintaining the image of Baltimore being a safe community would be damaged in the process.
According to Andy Green from the Baltimore Sun, “(Baltimore Police) Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told me today that the department, as a rule, doesn’t tweet rapes because of the sensitive nature of the crime.”
There has been criticism in the past of the city police and how they handled their Twitter and Facebook interactions. They seemed more worried about policing the comments on their Facebook page than actually interacting with citizens and there has been criticism that their Twitter account hasn’t been interactive at all, with just Tweets being sent out but not actual conversation. There has even been criticism of them for breaking one of the earliest norms of netiquette – leaving the caps lock key on.
All of these pale in comparison to the possibility that situations warning citizens of the city about a dangerous situation has not been tweeted with the given sensitivity reason and the more likely P.R. reasons.
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1
I posted about this on my facebook, and on the BPD’s facebook — while I appreciate the BPD’s sensitivity towards the victims of these terrible crimes, I also feel that the public needs to be made aware as soon as the police have information about a possible serial rapist. There’s no need to list the exact address or identifying information about the victims — a simple “Hey folks, looks like there’s a serial rapist in East Baltimore, be forewarned, especially if you ride the bus” would have been better than nothing at all.
The city needs to be more forthcoming about crime reporting — I don’t give a rat’s ass about the city’s “image” — however, I do care deeply for the safety of myself and my neighbors. I have to question why crime isn’t being widely reported here…is it really about “sensitivity” or is it something else?
Comment by Carol Ott — November 5, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
2
Although I completely agree with the criticism that the Baltimore Police Department needs to be more timely, consistent and engaging in their use of Twitter–especially when it comes to situations as major as a suspected serial rapist–I do think credit should be given for their decision this morning to use TweetPhoto to post an artist’s composite of a rape suspect they are searching for:
http://twitter.com/BaltimorePolice/status/5448109132
Now, I’m not sure if this was done in an attempt to quiet the criticism of their communication issues this week, but regardless, this was a great move on their part. The more the BPD uses Twitter to inform citizens and solicit their help, the better off we’ll be as a city.
Comment by Spam — November 5, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
3
Great Post.
The Chop has long been of the opinion that fewer bus stops on each line would benefit the city in many ways, one of which being safer bus stops.
We also believe that it would do the BPD (and all other agencies, and not just in the city) a world of good to create a very specific PR position dealing with new technologies, and to staff that position with someone knowledgeable in the most effective use of technology.
Comment by The Baltimore Chop — November 5, 2009 @ 2:04 pm
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[...] you will recall, last week there was controversy over the Baltimore City Police Department not tweeting about rapes in city neighborhoods that [...]
Pingback by More on Twitter and the Baltimore City Police | Inside Charm City: Baltimore, Maryland blog — November 12, 2009 @ 11:50 am