Social Media Helps Philadelphia Police Make 100th Arrest
By Social Media Editor Melony Roy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Philadelphia police are reporting their 100th arrest through the use of a new crime-fighting tool: social media.
The Philadelphia Police have been using Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to solve crimes and get the word out.
"Right now we are somewhat at the forefront of utilizing social media to solve crime and getting our community involved in helping us," says public information officer lieutenant Ray Evers.
On October 1st, police say a man was captured on surveillance video committing an armed robbery in South Philadelphia. A few days later, police say they received an anonymous tip identifying Erik Barrett as the man in the video after they posted it on YouTube.
"Instead of doing press conferences all the time we would utilize social media to get the word out and we are having tremendous successes," says Evers.
You can follow the Philadelphia Police on twitter @Phillypolice, like them on Facebook, or subscribe to their YouTube page.
