First responders pick up blog pulse
First responders are using blogs to become more responsive to the public they protect and serve — and that communications trend may soon hit Spokane.
When the Los Angeles Police Department makes national headlines, it’s usually bad news. But the department has earned positive press for LAPDBlog.org, which launched May 10. It follows in the footsteps of L.A. Fire Department and Boston Police Department blogs.
The goal is to give citizens an inside look at how the department works while fostering community dialogue, showcasing news that normally goes unreported and even airing complaints about media coverage of the LAPD, said Lt. Ruben de la Torre.
The blog published 34 items in its first two weeks, drawing 55,685 page views and more than 250 public comments. “As long as it’s tasteful and there’s no profanity, we’ll post it,” de la Torre pledged. “The comments have been pretty positive so far, but you should embrace the negative comments. You want to know what people are thinking.”
Blog visitors curious about departmental thinking will find responses to newspaper editorials, news releases and vignettes such as “Motorcycle officer and Good Samaritans save burning man” and “Teen shoots self in foot.”
That last item, which helped kick off the blog’s third week, recounted how two LAPD officers stopped a 17-year-old boy for riding his bike against traffic only to have him accidentally shoot himself with a gun he had stashed in his waistband. The teen was taken into custody without further incident.
Web searches indicate the story didn’t make the L.A. Times or L.A. Daily News. In a city the size of Los Angeles, that’s not surprising. But publishing the item on the LAPD blog served a valuable purpose. “The public tends to hear about the few dozen situations each year where officers have to fire their guns,” a police spokesman said in the post. “What they never realize is there are far more situations where officers arrest the gunman without firing a shot.”
Los Angeles blogger Sean Bonner helped the LAPD set up its blog.
The Spokane Fire Department will embrace that idea when it launches a redesigned Web site in July. It will feature podcasts and live dispatch data “so you can see companies out on calls,” said Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer. The site might ultimately include a blog as well.
“We’re moving down the blog route,” Schaeffer said as he put out a call for assistance from local bloggers. “I’d love to talk to somebody and learn how to do it,” because the department would benefit from “two-way communication where people can respond to what we’re doing or even say thanks to the firefighters.”
Other local first responders may be in no rush to join the blogosphere. The Spokane Police Department did not return calls for comment by deadline. And the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department plans to stick with a more traditional online presence.
“We have a Web site on which all of my releases are posted, and we have a ‘contact us’ feature that funnels mail right to my PC for distribution/response,” department spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said via e-mail. “The sheriff and I see no reason to have a blog.”
But the LAPD’s de la Torre encourages all public agencies to give blogging a try. “Events occur all the time, and the best way to get that information out is through blogs,” he said. “The only negative to doing this is not doing it.”