Cambridge Police tweet crime alerts

The Cambridge Police Department is believed to be just the second city in the country to use Twitter as a means of alerting citizens about crime reports as they unfold.

Automated, real-time tweets are sent out as the 911 dispatcher logs calls into the department’s system using a code. The tweets are sent out 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Each tweet must fall under one of 18 specific types of serious events that would be useful for the public to know about in real-time, said Dan Riviello, the department’s communications director. Such incidents include an armed robbery or assault in progress, missing persons, blocked streets, and bomb scares.

Each tweet includes the time that officers are dispatched and the address of the reported event. Riviello said that the crime-alert tweets are typically sent out after a five-to-ten-minute delay, enough time for police to arrive at the scene.

While the police department does not use Twitter to follow up on crime alerts, residents can obtain updates on the department’s website (www.cambridgema.gov/cpd).

Cambridge police, who have been active on Twitter for two-and-a-half years, were looking for a way to inform residents in real-time. In the past, Riviello said, he manually entered tweets during regular office hours only.

Since the department launched real-time tweeting in mid-February, it has gained more than 2,000 Twitter followers, he said.

The Seattle Police Department, the first in the nation to send real-time tweets, launched its “Tweet-by-beats” program in October.