Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Police put court news on Twitter

Results from cases heard at Birmingham Magistrates' Court are being put on Twitter by West Midlands Police.

Ch Supt Stephen Armstrong said there had been a decline in court reporting in recent years and the initiative was designed to make the public more aware of the cases police deal with.

The force is sending its own staff into court to cover the cases.

It said the updates on the micro-blogging site were the first ever "tweet-a-thon" from a justice centre.

The tweets from the Grade-I listed Victorian courthouse began on Tuesday morning. Police said it was too early to say if Tuesday's initiative would be repeated.

'Peace of mind'

Mr Armstrong said: "We've seen over recent years a bit of a decline in court reporting, particularly through local newspapers as they've faced their own financial constraints.

"That's tended to result in the general public not knowing what happens in court and what the outcomes at courts are.

"And this is our opportunity to raise that interest again and to show people there is a vast amount of police business going through courts and people are being dealt with and sentenced and punished for what they've done."

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth said: "West Midlands Police has truly embraced social media in our attempts to engage with audiences we have traditionally struggled to reach, including young people.

"Many officers across the force region now regularly update their communities via Twitter, blogs and Facebook... and we're about to launch a new Twitter account to track our police helicopter.

"We hope that the 'tweet-a-thon' from Birmingham Magistrates' Court will give people a flavour for the range of offenders we deal with, an insight into the court system and, importantly, peace of mind that justice is being done."



Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text Feed | Amazon AffiliateHud Settlement Statement

0 comments: