by Kim Gebbia
COOKEVILLE, Tenn- Twitter can tell you everything from what a celebrity had for lunch to what reality TV show a friend is watching. But, a local police department is getting on board the social media site for a different reason.
Cooke is trying to tweet up with the times and keep the community informed with crimes as they happen.
So far @CookevillePD has only put out 8 tweets. They are new to the social media site, but realize it's important to communicate with residents any way possible.
"Were trying to stay caught up with technology and reach the community," said Captain Nathan Honeycutt.
But it's just the beginning of how officers plan to keep residents informed by the second.
"There is that expectation for sure that the information be close to instantaneous," said Honeycutt, something they are learning as they go.
The hope is to take on twitter and train staff to give arrest updates, traffic alerts and crime statistics.
Like the wave of car theft and burglaries that hit Cookeville in the past 2 months. So far there are 56 victims, many from the same business parking lot in town.
"If we have some vehicle thefts in your neighborhood or certain business area we want everybody to be aware of that," said Honeycutt.
He hopes that awareness will encourage residents to then lock their cars, hide valuables and be on the lookout for criminals when they know where its happening almost instantly.
"I hope to learn what is around me if there is something dangerous that I need to be alert of if something was happening immediately I would know to close down the store," said downtown shop clerk Lesette Freeman.
But twitter is a two way street and the only way it works is if residents here log on, follow and tweet back. Which is not so easy for some in Cookeville.
"I would love to say that I would get on twitter if it would keep me informed I'm just not savvy enough with the computer," said mom Jessica Welch.
But Honeycutt said it's worth learning the lingo, and that @Cookeville PD will make it worth the while.
"As face value just to tell someone your status I didn't think that much about it but when we started applying that tool to prevent someone from becoming a crime victim that's a big deal to us," he said.
