POLICE in C District, who pioneered the use of social media for the PSNI, have now launched Facebook pages and Twitter feeds in Down and Castlereagh and policing areas which means every area in the district has gone ‘live’ with social networking.
Each of the pages contains information and news about policing and community initiatives in their area.
C District police commander Chief Superintendent Nigel Grimshaw said he and his officers are very proud to have led the way for the PSNI in social networking, He said: “We first brought social networking to Holywood police and the community it serves and it has now spread to Bangor and Ards and this week we are launching Down and Castlereagh PSNI’s Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. This means all across the district officers are providing daily updates about policing and crime prevention.
“Twenty first century community policing requires twenty first century communication techniques. With our Facebook pages, and with the use of Twitter, the interaction between officers and the public in C District is instantaneous,” said the chief superintendent.
“We continue to communicate with the public in traditional ways such as local newspapers, TV and radio for information about what police are doing to help keep the community safe, but we are acutely aware of the benefits of communicating and engaging in discussions through social networking,” said Nigel Grimshaw.
“We also welcome constructive comments that our Facebook users wish to post on our sites and while we will do our best to answer questions and reply to posts, the sites aren’t monitored 24/7. They are not intended as a means for reporting crime and people are encouraged to continue to use the 0845 600 8000 number to report incidents in their area or to dial 999 in an emergency,” said the police commander.
“PSNI Bangor, PSNI Holywood, PSNI Ards, PSNI Castlereagh and PSNI Down are all now ‘live’. I invite the community to ‘like’ our pages, and become part of community policing in the 21st Century,” he said.
C District currently have over 40,000 followers between all Facebook and Twitter accounts, making up a third of the total following for the PSNI.
Holywood is the smallest geographical area to have its own PSNI Facebook and Twitter account. Bangor has the largest number of followers of any of the PSNI Facebook pages. In all areas around two-thirds of the followers are female.
Anyone wishing to like C District’s Facebook sites should search for:
Facebook.com/PSNI.Ards, Facebook.com/PSNI.Bangor. Facebook.com/PSNI.Castlereagh, Facebook.com/PSNI.Down, Facebook.com/PSNI.Holywood
