REDLANDS, Calif. — The Redlands Police Department isn’t just embracing social media – it’s forging a new path that could become a model for law enforcement agencies across the country.
Under the guidance of Chief Mark Garcia, the Redlands PD is using a new Facebook-like tool for its officers that’s a more modern and streamlined spin on information-sharing tools created over the last decade for federal and state law enforcement agencies.
The Redlands PD is believed to be the first municipal police department in the country to launch what it calls CopBook, an idea that started gaining traction during the tenure of Garcia’s predecessor, former Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueermann.
Similar to the ubiquitous social-media tool that has made Mark Zuckerberg a household name, CopBook allows Redlands PD officers to share information to members divided into such groups as patrol and investigations, or individually to those who have created profiles on the website.
“CopBook provides us with both a method for instantly sharing information with the officers who need it, and it also provides a searchable repository of information that I’m confident will maximize our ability to solve crime,” Garcia says.
“The real power in this tool will be bringing other police agencies on,” says Redlands police Lt. Chris Catren. “Crooks don’t follow geographical boundaries, and it’s crucial for different law enforcement agencies to be able to share information quickly.”
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols nearby communities including Highland and Yucaipa, is looking into using CopBook, according to Catren.
Such a tool appeals to the new, younger breed of tech-savvy officers who are looking to share knowledge and information more efficiently, officials say.
“Having a comfort level with the technology improves the chances that officers will readily share information in this medium,” Garcia says.
The Redlands PD started testing CopBook in early 2011 after working with a Washington, D.C.-based software developer to develop a customized system, Catren says.
“The information that is shared is secured through means that provide confidence that our intelligence will not be compromised,” Garcia says.
For the past few years, the Redlands PD has been actively engaging the community through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube – social media tools that have become crucial as budget cuts have reduced internal resources, officials say.
The Redlands PD has shrunk to 77 sworn officers from 98 in 2007. In a cost-saving move, the agency hired an outside consultant, local resident Theresa M. Dale, to manage its social networking activities – and visits to the PD’s sites have grown considerably.
In August 2010, the Redlands PD had about 600 fans on its Facebook page. As of Jan. 17, the agency had about 2,700 fans with viral reach of 1.1 million views per month, Dale said.
“We want to maintain contact with the community and improve on it all the time,” Catren says of the vital role of social media in law enforcement. “As a police department, we are always looking at ways to connect with any part of the community. Not everyone can come up to our front counter and talk to us.”
Social media tools have proven to be valuable when it comes to mining crime tips, Catren says. Dozens of tips flooded into the Redlands PD via Facebook and Twitter following a double homicide in January 2010.
Redlands, with a population of 70,000, is a relatively safe city, typically logging no more than five homicides a year. Several nearby lower-income communities, however, make Redlands a significant target of property crimes, Catren says.
This makes communicating with other law enforcement agencies through new tools like CopBook even more important, Catren says.
His boss agrees.
“Social networking has provided the ability for us to share information quickly with large groups of people,” Garcia says. “It also gives us a tool to gain intelligence more quickly than ever before. Capitalizing on the medium will help us in our ability to provide effective service to our community.”