@PaloAltoPolice Makes Top Ten Twitter List

For the first time, the Palo Alto Police Department has made it into a national law enforcement social media ranking for their Twitter followers.

The International Association of Police Chiefs (IACP) updated its list of top law enforcement agencies on social media. The IACP aims to inform and help these agencies build and use these Web 2.0 tools in crime prevention, community relations and enhanced operations.

For a department with 50 to 99 sworn officers it had 3,897 followers at the time the IACP published its list on July 3, 2013. As of the publication of this Patch article, the PAPD had 3,990.

At No. 1, the Mountain View Police tops the list with 6,708 followers compared to 6,240 for the Billerica Police Department in Massachusetts who came in second. Similarly sized San Rafael, CA appeared in the No. 9 spot with 4,090. 

Recently the PAPD used its Twitter account to inform Caltrain passengers about police activity at the Palo Alto station and to issue a press release on an indecent exposure arrest.