What do you do to remind your city’s residents that crime’s at an all-time low? Send our a flurry of real-time 911 dispatches via Twitter! Nothing calms everyone down like reading “Aggressive panhandler in the 800 block of Pike St”.
The tweets are part of the Seattle PD’s new initiative to show “what a day in the life of the department was really like,” the NYT reports. Which is cool! I like knowing the cops have their fingers on the button, and getting a heads up on dangerous spots is appreciated. But apparently not everyone in Seattle agreed: “Ok,” tweeted one cranky Seattle internet person. “I had to mute the @SeattlePD I don’t care about mental person panhandling too aggressive while jaywalking. Bad use of twitter!” Bad! Bad!
But come on, there are some gems in here:
Theft car prowl in the 100 block of Blanchard St
911 hang up call from business in the 2700 block of 4 Ave
Liquor violation in the 500 block S Jackson St
Seattle, you sound really, really safe on the internet. [Seattle PD via NYT]