U.S. police will use Twitter to catch car thieves

A few months ago police in India tracked down undisciplined drivers through the social network Facebook. This time, the police in Seattle has decided to create a Twitter account where citizens can provide information on car thieves.

In Seattle there are currently about 3,000 stolen vehicles out of which 80% are recovered, but law enforcement officials want to improve this percentage.

“They’re (criminals) are using social networks probably more than the average person,” Lt. Mike Edwards said. “They are fully aware of it and they are using it. We see that time and time again when we arrest and interview folks on how they are communicating with others. And this is just one more thing they are already using so we want to use it too.”

If this strategy works, the Seattle Police department is determined to use Twitter to alert people about traffic accidents or blocked roads. The “Twitter Method” has been successfully tested by police in Alburquerque, the city with the highest rate of car theft.

Source: West Seattle Herald