Crime & Safety
PAPD to Hold Twitter “Virtual Ride-Along”
The Palo Alto Police Department uses Twitter, Facebook, Nixle and rBlock, in addition to its traditional website.
Have you ever imagined what it’s like for a police officer to patrol the streets of Palo Alto on a Friday night? This Friday you’ll get a taste of what officers experience through a virtual ride-along.
Starting at 5 p.m. a member of the department’s public information team will ride along with a patrol officer, live-tweeting calls for service, crimes in progress, arrests, vehicle accidents, and anything else that comes up during the officer’s shift until 1 a.m. Saturday.
According to Lt. Zach Perron, “The goal of the “virtual ride-along” is to give our community insight into the realities of law enforcement in Palo Alto. Tweets may include pictures and videos as appropriate. All tweets will include the hashtag ‘PAPDvra’ for “Palo Alto Police Department virtual ridealong.”
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Twitter users can ask us questions during the ride-along by using the hashtag. Questions will be answered as time allows.
Lt. Perron estimates that 50-150 tweets will be sent.
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PAPD’s Twitter account is @PaloAltoPolice. Since launching its social media platforms in March of this year, the department has gained more than 1,000 followers on Twitter and more than 700 “likes” on Facebook.
Link to the accounts on PAPD’s web page.
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