Forest Heath joins Twitter

11 January 2013

Police in the Forest Heath district have joined the social networking site Twitter - and will be issuing regular updates about news, events, arrests and what's happening in the neighbourhood.

Forest Heath is the second local area to get its own district account (@ForestHthPolice) in Suffolk following the successful launch of @LowestoftPolice during the latter part of last year which has just offer 300 followers @AngliaSkyCops (with updates in relation to the force’s helicopter) which has almost 1600 followers and the Constabulary's main Twitter account @SuffolkPolice which has over 5,400 followers.

Newly appointed Local Policing Commander for Forest Heath Inspector Matthew Rose, who will help oversee the Forest Heath account said he hoped the short updates, known as ‘tweets’, would give those using the social networking site a better insight into police work and help build relationships alongside the day-to-day work carried out by officers and police community support officers.

"We are always looking at new ways to engage with local people and using social networking sites such as Twitter is just one way we can do this. Twitter is becoming increasingly popular and it will not only allow us to provide regular local policing updates on a variety of issues that you might not usually get to hear about by conventional means, but also provide another medium for the public to engage with their local police.

“There is a lot of good work being carried out by officers and staff within the district and we want as many people as possible to have access to information about what is happening in Forest Heath.”

@ForestHthPolice will be used by officers to update people living in the district about what’s going on. As well as informing and reassuring local residents about policing incidents, officers will use the account to promote arrests, charges and crime trends. It will also offer crime prevention advice and advertise local police surgeries and meetings.

Police will continue to use traditional methods of engagement such as community surgeries, the media and the existing Suffolk Police Direct service to keep members of the public informed on policing matters.

Inspector Rose said: “We appreciate that not everyone living in the communities we serve will be familiar with social media or have access to the internet, but this gives us another way of keeping in touch with residents. It’s important to remember that Twitter is not the place to report a crime or raise issues you want to discuss in confidence. For non-emergency matters or to speak with an officer from your local Safer Neighbourhood Team please use the 101 number. In emergencies always dial 999.”

The account will be up and running from today, Friday 11 January, with tweets and updates from the district policing teams throughout the day.