Residents can follow police, fire tweets on Twitter

Those wondering where a Shawnee fire truck or police car is going, or those wanting information on city services and government can now follow tweets on Twitter.
Tweets are messages on Twitter, an online social networking and micro-blogging service. The city of Shawnee is now disseminating information through Twitter about city, as well as police and fire events as they happen. Anyone can view alerts free online and users also may subscribe to instant or text message updates.
Steve Nolen, city of Shawnee chief information officer, said Twitter is a new medium that cities as well as police and fire departments can use to keep residents informed. There’s currently a following on Twitter.com for Shawnee police, Shawnee fire and the city of Shawnee government.
“I just thought it was a good idea — another way to communicate information to the public,” Nolen said. “It’s a popular way to follow.”
His idea for tweeting Shawnee’s police calls came from Charlotte, N.C., after the police department there joined Twitter, he said. He later noticed the Los Angeles Fire Department joined Twitter to communicate alerts with the public following large fire events there last year.
The tweets have basic information. On the police site, for example, it shows the type of call, such as larceny, vandalism, motor vehicle accident or drug violation, followed by an address and the time of the posting. Sometimes the listed nature of an incident entered into the computer system at the time of the initial call to police can change once officers arrive at the scene, he said, but Twitter provides the basic information and a way to publicly broadcast the calls.
Settings are created by Nolen for Twitter to follow subsets of general police and fire calls in Shawnee, but not every type of call is listed, he said. For example, fires, smoke investigation and other response calls are listed for the fire department, but no medical-related calls are shown.
The police and fire departments joined Twitter in November and there’s now regular followers, he said. Nolen said he believes Shawnee is being innovative when it comes to Twitter, which is almost serving the role of a “modern-day scanner.”
In addition to the Shawnee police and fire departments, there’s a city of Shawnee area on Twitter, where residents can get various city-related alerts, such as city hall being closed for a holiday. There’s also tweets about upcoming meetings, as well as city meeting minutes, and there’s links to view them.
Those interested in the Twitter postings can go to the city’s Web site, www.shawneeok.org and click on the “Twitter Info.” link at the left. Those already on Twitter can link follow: City of ShawneeOK; Shawneepd and Shawneefd.
Nolen said there’s other online features through the city of Shawnee’s Web site that can keep residents informed about other police-related items, such as crime maps, where residents can zoom to a specific area in Shawnee to see what types of crimes are occurring in that area.
“It’s a way to visualize and raise awareness about what’s going on in your neighborhood,” Nolen said.
Chart makers, along with accident maps, registered sex offenders and outstanding warrants also are available online, Nolen said, and the public can use all information to be better informed.
Nolen, along with Ryan Ayers and Barry Poe, tech support specialists, work a variety of duties relating to information technology services within the city of Shawnee, he said, with the city’s Web site being just part of those duties, he said.
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Kim Morava may be reached at 214-3962.