Sioux Falls, S.D. - The Sioux Falls police department is increasing their social media use. According to KSFY, over the past two weeks about a dozen trained officers have gained access to the department's Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The Sioux Falls police department is using social media to share updates about suspects, traffic incidents, crime reports and other important public safety information, but you'll also see plenty of humor from the officers making these posts.
“The dumpster tweet is probably my most famous tweet so far, so I’ll be tracking and responding to any dumpster questions people have and no it’s not a good place to hide,” Sgt. Andrew Siebenborn said.
Sgt. Siebenborn is one of a dozen officers now posting to social media throughout his shift, all in an effort to create more open communication with the Sioux Falls community.
“When Chief Burns was appointed as the new chief that was one of the things he made a point that he wanted to expand our use into social media,” Officer Sam Clemens said. “We're not trying to hide anything, we've got a great relationship with the citizens now and we want to keep that going.”
Over the past two weeks, the SFPD officers have live tweeted at stand offs, added more updates about other police activity and shared suspect photos on all social media accounts.
“It’s invaluable in that regard, it gives us immediate access for people that need to be found and taken off the streets,” Sgt. Siebenborn said.
Along with important public safety information, the SFPD is also working to reveal the people behind the badge.
“I definitely think humor plays a big part in this job…it allows people to see the other side of us and that we're just like most other people in this community,” Sgt. Siebenborn said.
“It really humanizes it and lets people know that we've got moms and dads doing this job, people going home to volunteer, coaching kids and more, so we can sort of let people know that we've got regular people doing this job and these are the ones that are doing these posts,” Officer Clemens said.
As far as when officers make posts, it’s really common sense. If they're in the middle of an active scene or situation, they may not be able to take the time to tweet or post to Facebook, but officers are making a big effort to get information out to the public as soon as possible.
The Sioux Falls Police Department has taken some extensive steps to prevent their social media accounts from getting hacked, but they do say that's always a risk with any online forms of communication.