Social networks aid police outreach efforts
Social networks provide an avenue for the police to educate the public about their crime-fighting efforts, said Lai.KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — The emergence of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter has helped government agencies such as the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to communicate and promote their services and activities to communities that they serve.
Bukit Aman public relations officer DSP Lai Lee Ching said social media has been used to educate young people and the general public in efforts to fight and prevent crime all over the world.
“Therefore as an appreciation, PDRM will celebrate the second anniversary of using Facebook as well as the first anniversary using Twitter on Friday via online,” Lai told Bernama when contacted here.
She said police were using social networks as a platform to reach out to the younger Internet savvy generation, posting updates on high profile cases, tips for crime prevention, and updates on key community policing initiatives.
She also acknowledged the fact that social networks such as the Facebook and Twitter were great tools for solving crimes and created space for police to share information about themselves with the public.
“The police use these media connections to keep the public informed about unsolved crimes and post valuable information such as surveillance videos on the web,” she added.
Moreover, the younger generation played a vital role in using social network such as Facebook and Twitter, she said.
“The social media offers us (PDRM) an outlet to communicate with and educate the public, as well as form relationships with community members and to fight crime,” she said.
The PDRM Facebook profile page is facebook.com/PolisDirajaMalaysia while the Twitter profile page is twitter.com/PDRMsia.
Currently, the Facebook page was followed by 168,779 people, while there were 43,761 followers in Twitter, who would receive regular updates, she said. — Bernama
