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Richmond Police to tweet what they see, do

Posted at 1:17 PM, Mar 20, 2013
and last updated 2013-03-20 13:17:54-04

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Richmond Police are joining more than 100 law enforcement agencies throughout eight different countries this Friday for the first Global Tweet-A-Thon.

Along with Fourth Precinct Master Patrol Officer Al Joyner, police will take Twitter followers on a virtual ride along through the department’s Twitter account, @RichmondPolice from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 22.

Officer Joyner has been with Richmond Police for 18 years and has patrolled the Fourth Precinct for over a decade. His most recent assignment is working within Jackson Ward, Oregon Hill, City Center and VCU.

“I look forward to giving citizens a realistic idea about the types of things we encounter and deal with on a regular basis,” Officer Joyner says. “I believe social media is key in helping to keep our community informed about what we do.”

Deputy Chief Eric English believes the Tweet-A-Thon will help advance community policing efforts and in bringing awareness to citizens in real time.

“We are already nationally known for our leading social media efforts. By participating in this Global Tweet-a-Thon, we will improve upon that knowledge and expand the Richmond community’s understanding and experience of what our officers do,” he says.

The goal of the Global Tweet-A-Thon is to promote the use of social media within policing, and to highlight police work, the issues police face, and the already established social media strategies of law enforcement agencies.

There are over 100 participating agencies from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Sweden, Iceland, and Australia.

Follow along with the Tweet-A-Thon tweets by searching for the hashtag #POLTWT, subscribe to this list of participating officers on Twitter,or check out this Google map of agencies all over the world that will be tweeting.