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Elkhorn police using Twitter

ELKHORN — The Elkhorn Police Department wants you to follow them on Twitter.

Twitter.com, the micro-blogging and social networking Web site, was founded in 2006 and has since become more popular as media networks, politicians and other interest groups start their pages and gather thousands of followers.

Now, it's the turn of the officers at the Elkhorn Police Department, who started tweeting in efforts to inform the community about citywide issues.

Elkhorn police officials started their account after finding it too expensive to contract with a private company for a mass notification system.

"The cost of the product we were looking at was prohibitive and outside our budget at that time," Chief Joel Christensen said.

Instead, the department has started using Twitter as a way to notify Elkhorn residents about traffic issues, crime alerts and other common-interest issues.

The Elkhorn police account is at Twitter.com/ elkpd.

Twitter allows users to post messages of up to 140 characters. The posts, known as tweets, are sent to a list of users subscribe to the account, known as followers.

Christensen said the idea is to gather as many followers as possible in case the officers need to quickly notify residents about an issue.

The Twitter page still is taking baby steps. Since it was opened June 28, Lt. Jon Anzalone, who manages the page, has posted a few tweets. One reminds followers that motorists now can be stopped and cited for not wearing their seat belts.

Christensen is optimistic.

"I think it's going well, so

far," he said. "It's just a matter of us getting the word out that we're on (Twitter) now."

The Milwaukee Police Department was one of Elkhorn's inspirations.

The department uses Twitter to send alerts and general bits of information to its followers, more than 2,200 as of Wednesday.

Other law enforcement, including the FBI, have created profiles and tweeted about wanted criminals and general safety information.

So far, the Elkhorn Police Department is the first in Walworth and Rock counties to use Twitter to inform citizens.

Janesville Police Chief Dave Moore said he supports any communication medium that provides information to the public in a timely and accurate matter.

"We just recently added texting to our CrimeStoppers as an option for citizens to report crime," Moore said.

Janesville Sgt. Brian Donohoue, who manages the system, said the Janesville Police Department Web site also offers a mass e-mail system for citizens interested in receiving crime alerts and other police reports.

Walworth County Undersheriff Kurt Picknell said the sheriff's office uses a mass-calling technology that allows deputies to call every land phone in a determined geographic area.

Walworth County sheriff's Lt. Kevin Williams, who works with countywide emergency management, said the system has the capability of making several thousands calls per minute.

When it comes to mass alert systems, most officials agreed, it's important to not overdo it.

"We don't want people to disregard the messages," Christensen said. "As scams come up, or crimes are happening, those are things people need to know about to take the extra precaution."

Twitter tips

Device notifications: To maximize Twitter services provided by law enforcement agencies, try turning on your device notifications to receive text messages every time selected users update their profiles. To do so, go to the settings page, click on "Devices" and select the option to turn on device updates. Then go back to your home page, click on "following" and select the cell phone icon next to the name of the profile you are hoping to get updates from. If you would like to turn off the updates during a certain period of the day, go to settings, click on "Devices" and check the box "Turn off updates during these hours."

Sending tweets via text messages: Go to your settings pages, select "Devices" and enter your cell phone number. A text message will be sent to the number you selected to confirm that is your cell phone. After that, you can send messages to 40404 and they will be posted on your Twitter profile.

Privacy: Your profile is open to anyone, regardless of whether they are on Twitter. To protect your updates and your profile, go to the settings page and select the "Protect my updates" option near the bottom of the screen. That way, only individuals you approve will be able to view your profile and read your tweets.

Profile versus stream: Your profile contains your tweets and is viewable to your followers and/or those you allow (read privacy for more details). Your stream can be found on your Twitter home page and contains the updates from the people you follow.