April 19, 2010

Police departments finding popularity online

Pages allow for more community interaction with officers

Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK, Va. — If the number of Facebook fans someone has is a measure of their popularity, then the Virginia Beach Police Department is the cool kid.

The department's Facebook page had 1,911 fans Friday afternoon, making it the most popular local law enforcement agency on the social networking website. Portsmouth came in second with 1,195 fans, and Newport News brought up the rear with 171 fans.

Every police department in Hampton Roads has a Facebook page or group except Hampton. Some provide basic information. Others inform residents about crime, tout accomplishments or try to recruit new officers.

"It's a chance for citizens to interact with the police department easily," said Officer Adam Bernstein, a spokesman for Virginia Beach police.

A Norfolk Police Department group had 625 members on Friday, but the page was not created by the department, a spokesman said. The group's administrator said she is a former police dispatcher.

The Hampton Police Division had an unofficial group with 61 members before it was deleted this week. The division had considered creating an official page, but budget and time restrictions tabled that idea, said Cpl. Paula Scheck, a division spokeswoman.

Newport News' page is focused solely on recruiting, said Lt. Stacy Kelly, commander of the police department's training and recruiting division.

"Everyone's on there, so we felt like we were missing the boat by not having anything out there," he said.

Monica Nicole Carnes said she became a fan of the Beach police page when she moved here last October.

"It is a great tool to keep up with your surroundings," she wrote .

Several spokespeople said they don't think residents will stop being fans of their pages if they receive a ticket or get arrested.

"We're just doing our job," Bernstein said. "I wouldn't think that that would lead them to unfriend us, but if that happens, I'm sorry, and we'll just keep putting information on the page and keep encouraging people to join it."