Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Two years of blogging

It doesn’t seem like it, but two years ago today, I made my first post on this blog. As I mark this “blogiversary,” I can’t help but be excited about all the great information we’ve been able to get out about the Kansas City Missouri Police Department through this medium. I’ve told tales of our officers’ heroism, kept the community informed about police department initiatives, explained crime prevention strategies and even released breaking news about an escaped pet ape attacking a police car. This has been a wonderful way to get our message directly to the public without the filter of traditional media.

This blog was really the first of KCPD’s social media initiatives. Since then, we’ve launched a YouTube channel, Twitter account and Facebook page. All are ways to get important public safety information out to as many people in Kansas City as possible. They also are an extension of what we’re trying to do as a department from patrol officers to commanders: connect with the community. In addition to social media, we’re doing this through community roll calls, neighborhood meet and greets and a variety of community events. We have strategic plans in place to continually increase scores for police on the annual citizen satisfaction survey.

All of this is because we know the only way to effectively fight and prevent crime in this city is to have solid partnerships with you. If the community has no relationship with police, we can’t do our job. This blog is a part of that relationship. Thank you for reading for the last two years, and I look forward to even more ways our police department can share with you in the future.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.