Not all heroes wear capes…or even breathe for that matter. There’s an emerging way of fighting crime and this time it involves social media.
At the sound of a siren, officers head out to search and catch criminals and now you can help save lives too.
Using social media as a way to help catch lawbreakers is an emerging method that police and local sheriff departments realize quicken investigation processes.
Athens-Clarke County Public Information Officer Epifanio Rodriguez says that involving the community by having a Facebook page “shows them [community members] that we’re a part…we want to be community-oriented policing…and that we are a transparent agency.”
Surrounding counties have also established social media pages and use comments from every-day people to assist with investigations…even during manhunts. For example, the chase to find John Christopher Calhoun, the man sheriff’s were on the hunt for this weekend–posting notifications on the Athens-Clarke County website about the investigation increased the page’s likes by “143”– a number that Officer Rodriguez says is due to the weekend’s events.
For more information and a recap on this story, click here.
By: Nylah Oliver
