CLEVELAND -- Ohio police agencies are signing on to the messaging Web site Twitter to inform residents about accidents, traffic conditions and suspects being sought.
Police in Summit County's Bath Township have been on Twitter since Feb. 19. One recent "tweet" - as Twitter posts are known - warned that a local high school dismissed early for final exams, so motorists could expect extra traffic in the area.
"We're small, but we try to look out for our residents' safety," Bath Township Administrator Bill Snow said last week. "It's another communications device."
Officers also monitor Twitter for messages and updates.
"Not minute by minute," Snow said. "It's not 9-1-1."
Twitter, a free microblogging Web site, allowing users to post messages of up to 140 characters that are sent to interested recipients.
Police in the Dayton suburb of Huber Heights also have opened an account.
"We see it as a valuable resource and a real good way to reach out to people," Huber Heights Chief Robert Schommer said, noting the department is already on the networking Web site Facebook. "It's an outreach thing more than anything."
Twitter, which is headquartered in San Francisco, did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for a list of police agencies using the technology, and how they were using it.
A smattering of agencies across the country are experimenting with it as a real-time communications tool to post bulletins or news releases.
Boston police began using Twitter this week and posted updates on crowd conditions during the city's St. Patrick's Day parade. The Los Angeles Fire Department uses Twitter to send wildfire updates.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol expects to begin using Twitter soon.
"We're still looking at exactly what we want to do with it," Patrol spokesman Sgt. Darrin Blosser said Tuesday.
Blosser said Ohio's Highway Patrol use likely will be similar to its Web site, with messages created at Patrol headquarters in Columbus rather than at posts throughout the state.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement