Brentwood Police Launch Facebook, Blog

The recently made a move to be better connected with the public.

Not long after the department was questioned for not telling the public sooner about a suspected sexual assault in Brentwood Park, it launched a Facebook page and a blog, with frequently updated service call reports, safety tips and a section on emergency preparedness.

“We’re trying to jump into the 21st century,” Assistant Chief Dan Fitzgerald said. There aren’t many other police departments in the area with Facebook pages, he said.

Fitzgerald sees it as an improvement over weekly reports the department has published on the Brentwood city website.

“People often find out about things a week or a week and a half later, and that’s really not the society we live in now,” he said. “We’re hoping with the blog (and the Facebook page), both would be able to communicate with people a little bit quicker.”

He’s also hoping for some interaction with the public on the sites, for example he used ‘police speak’, like FTA and GOA on posts.

“I purposely put FTA and GOA on there,” he said, “hoping someone would ask what it means by commenting on the blog.  I would like for people to ask questions on the blog. “

FTA is failure to appear (someone skipped their court date on a summons) and GOA is gone on arrival, he said.

He also said that the reports are fairly brief, but will expand in the future, on Facebook, when there’s more of a following.