City police are getting social.
The Thunder Bay Police Service launched its -- @tbpsmedia and @tbpschief -- Youtube and Facebook accounts Tuesday along with a new website. It also launched Zone Watch, an online forum that will help selected citizens interact with police to help keep an eye on specific neighbourhoods.
“We’ve been criticized in the past for not having a social media presence,” police spokesman Chris Adams said Tuesday. “We were always really reluctant to do it because we wanted to do it the right way.”
Police departments across the world, including departments in Canada, began using social media much earlier. But Thunder Bay police wanted to make sure that privacy concerns were dealt with properly, which is why the online forum will be in house rather than through a website like Facebook.
The force is setting up six zones throughout the city. Members of the public can apply to become involved in their neighbourhood zone.
If selected, along with a criminal background check, they will participate in a four-week police academy. After that, they will be able to interact with police to discuss issues and strategies in their neighbourhoods.
“The public, generally in their neighbourhoods, have a lot of good information. They hold a lot of knowledge about what is happening and they have the ability to keep an eye on their neighbours in a good positive way,” Adams said.
“We really think we’re on the verge of something that can grow quite a bit over time and has a lot of potential. We’re going to start out simple but we really think it’s a good way for people that want to work and be part of the police service.”
The program will correspond with a shift in how the department patrols the city.
There are currently 26 beats throughout Thunder Bay. But in the fall, it will become six zones designated to officers in an attempt to focus on more preventative neighbourhood policing. Insp. Sylvie Hauth said officer can spend more time in neighbourhoods getting to understand the issues of the people who live and work there.
“In order to better serve people on a day to day basis,” she said.
The zones will be split up to equalize the amount of call volumes in specific areas.
