By encouraging students to follow @BltgnINPolice on Twitter or like Bloomington Police Department on Facebook, the BPD hopes students will be more aware of criminal activity in town, according to a press release.
“Our overall goal is to improve communication and reduce crime,” Cpt. Joe Qualters said in the release. “We want to take the opportunity to make them more aware of steps they can take to avoid being a crime victim and encourage them to be more vigilant once they are made aware criminal activity has been reported in their area.”
Currently, the BPD Twitter and Facebook accounts post information on crime prevention and activities the department is involved with.
It also provides a forum for public tips about suspect identification.
The department plans to cater more of that information to IU students, the press release said.
The department listed goals, including crime alerts, crime prevention tips before student breaks and informative reminders on various topics, such as Indiana’s Lifeline Law and specific enforcement campaigns.
“Students are often targeted and frequently report being victims of property crimes, but reaching out and getting information to students has been an ongoing challenge for the department,” Qualters said.
“They live in neighborhoods but are typically not members of neighborhood associations with whom we already share information and those who live in apartment complexes rarely get any information at all about burglaries or thefts from vehicles that might be occurring around them.”
Sarah Zinn
