In an Emergency, How Will You be Notified?

Keeping the public informed about police matters---both in emergency and non-emergency situations—has come into sharper focus in the wake of recent residential burglaries and other crimes that have occurred in Belmont.

In the most recent Weekly Update newsletter by Belmont city manager Greg Scoles, the Belmont Police Department addressed some of the public’s concerns about receiving information.

The following is an excerpt from the April 19 issue of the City Manager's Weekly Update from the Belmont Police Department:

Public Information from the Police Department

Recently we’ve received some questions about how and when police information is shared with the community.

There are several options and we try to use the system that is  most appropriate for the given event. Some of those are as follows:

Rapid Notify

The computerized phone calls that are made to registered landline home phones and/or other phone numbers (Cellular / VOIP) that are registered to our Belmont Community Alert System (www.belmont.gov under POLICE). These calls are made only for immediate emergency situations when information is critical, or thorough notification is necessary.

Twitter

Belmont PD has a twitter account with over 1500 registered followers (www.twitter.com/belmontcapolice). We use this for immediate notifications AND community education. Some citizens register to receive these notifications (“Tweets”) immediately on their phones. Others check the Twitter page regularly but don’t want to register or receive notifications. Either is fine with us.

We can now post notifications from the scene to Twitter using smartphones (roadway closures/crimes in progress etc.). We also link press releases to this account.

Press Releases

These traditional notices are posted on the City of Belmont website (www.belmont.gov). One can register on the City website to receive press releases via  email when they are posted. Often these press releases contain more details but they are sometimes posted hours (or even days) after an event.

Media Bulletin

Each day, lists of PD calls are posted on the City of Belmont website (www.belmont.gov under POLICE > Media Bulletin). Media members often scour these logs for potential stories, which is why they are known as Press Logs, but anyone is welcome to review them.

Nextdoor.com

A more recent application of social media that is catching on in Belmont (www.nextdoor.com). BPD will sometimes post items on Nextdoor.com but more often they are taken from our sources (Twitter/Press Release/Patch etc) and posted by citizens for discussion. We encourage and support this communication as well.

YouTube:

We also host content on our own YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/belmontpublicsafety). This isn’t usually a spot for immediate information, but where we post informative and educational videos for the community.

We want our community to be informed and we are trying to keep up with the technology that allows us to keep that communication flowing. Those efforts will continue and we are having conversations every day that will keep us changing and improving.

What do you think is the best way for police to keep the public informed? Tell us in the comment section below.

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