UK cops tell all in 24 hours of tweets
Source: Agencies |
October 15, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FROM stolen cars to suspicious smells, one of Britain's biggest police forces is posting every incident it deals with over 24 hours to micro-blogging site Twitter.
The online campaign is intended to show that officers don't just spend their time chasing criminals - and aims to illustrate the pressure police are under as British officials prepare for deep budget cuts.
"The reality of police work is that although crime is a big part of what we do, we do much else beside," Chief Constable Peter Fahy said in a message posted to YouTube. "We're very much the agency of last resort, and a big part of our workload is related to wider social problems of alcohol, drugs, mental health and people having problems with their relationships."
The project, which began at 5am local time yesterday, has already racked up more than 500 different incidents.
Among the first tweets: An alert about a stolen vehicle thought to be headed for Manchester, the arrest of an aggressive shoplifter, and a report that "a man appears asleep at bus stop."
Greater Manchester Police is one of the country's largest police forces, responsible for the 1,295-square-kilometer area centered on Manchester - which competes with Birmingham for the title of England's second city.
Although the city sees some high-profile crimes, including international terrorism cases, most of the yesterday's calls spoke of the daily grind of police work.
Many tweets covered domestic incidents, traffic accidents, stolen cars and missing people. There were calls about animals, complaints about a man urinating against a school wall, a report of man smoking on an incoming flight to Manchester Airport - dozens of false alarms and nuisance calls.
The online campaign is intended to show that officers don't just spend their time chasing criminals - and aims to illustrate the pressure police are under as British officials prepare for deep budget cuts.
"The reality of police work is that although crime is a big part of what we do, we do much else beside," Chief Constable Peter Fahy said in a message posted to YouTube. "We're very much the agency of last resort, and a big part of our workload is related to wider social problems of alcohol, drugs, mental health and people having problems with their relationships."
The project, which began at 5am local time yesterday, has already racked up more than 500 different incidents.
Among the first tweets: An alert about a stolen vehicle thought to be headed for Manchester, the arrest of an aggressive shoplifter, and a report that "a man appears asleep at bus stop."
Greater Manchester Police is one of the country's largest police forces, responsible for the 1,295-square-kilometer area centered on Manchester - which competes with Birmingham for the title of England's second city.
Although the city sees some high-profile crimes, including international terrorism cases, most of the yesterday's calls spoke of the daily grind of police work.
Many tweets covered domestic incidents, traffic accidents, stolen cars and missing people. There were calls about animals, complaints about a man urinating against a school wall, a report of man smoking on an incoming flight to Manchester Airport - dozens of false alarms and nuisance calls.
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