Milton Police open Facebook, Twitter accounts
To lean more
To see the Milton Police Department's Twitter page, visit www.twitter.com/miltonpd. You don't have to be a member to see the page, but you do have to be a member to get updates. To create a free account, visit www.twitter.com.
You must be a member of Facebook to see the department's Facebook page. To join, visit www.facebook.com. Members can find the department's profile by searching for "Milton PD WI."
MILTON — In the future, Lt. John Conger believes, "People are going to have a house, they're going to have a car and they're going to have a Facebook account."
In other words, the Internet is becoming as vital as shelter and transportation.
In anticipation of that day, the Milton Police Department has gone digital. The department now has Facebook and Twitter accounts letting people know what it's up to.
"We're very interested in open communication, and this is just another avenue," Conger said.
Facebook is a social networking site allowing people to post pictures, links and information about themselves. Twitter allows users to post comments, called "tweets," of 140 characters or fewer.
Both free sites allow users to follow or "friend" other users, getting constant updates about their actions on the sites.
The department decided to create accounts after reading about a Twitter account started by the Elkhorn Police Department, Conger said.
It will use the accounts to post updates about major incidents, such as crimes and road closures, and everyday news such as upcoming events.
For example, a tweet posted to the department's Twitter account July 22 says: "Kudos to Lt. Conger and 2nd Shift Officers for catching another internet predator. We remind folks to watch their kids on-line at all times."
The Facebook account lists department employees and phone extensions and has an album of employee photos. A comment posted on its "wall" Thursday advertises the upcoming Janesville National Night Out. Older posts offer information about the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and how to look up sex offenders in your neighborhood.
Chief Jerry Schuetz is handling the Twitter account while Conger is handling the Facebook site, Conger said.
If the sites are competing, Facebook seems to be winning so far. The department's Facebook site boasted 44 friends Thursday, while the Twitter site listed only five followers.
Conger said the accounts would evolve based on how residents use them. He encouraged people to contact the department with suggestions.
"We would just encourage anybody that's interested to check it out," he said.
Aug 3, 2009 at 3:50 p.m.
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The twitter ID for the Milton PD seems to be inaccurate. Does anyone know what it is?
Aug 3, 2009 at 6:31 a.m.
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just another reason for drivers to use cell phones while they drive to look up facebook or other accounts, going in the wrong direction with this
Aug 2, 2009 at 11:39 p.m.
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"Our taxes go up again, and yet the police seem to have all this extra time on their hands. Let's cut their hours."
As opposed to people who have all the extra time on their hands to constantly complain about the police and every move they make. You should be happy, just think, you'll have one more outlet for which to whine and complain.
Aug 2, 2009 at 3:47 p.m.
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Its free and its a great way to stay in touch with friends. Not sure how that is for "suckers" - please explain. Facebook was HUGE before it was "hyped" by any news networks.
Aug 2, 2009 at 3:41 p.m.
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Facebook is for suckers. So are MySpace and Twitter. Don't fall for it. Every time they hype a "networking" website on the "news", people just blindly go. Put your internet goggles on here, folks.
Aug 2, 2009 at 2:59 p.m.
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biggirl - exactly how much "extra time" does it take for the PD to post a tweet or facebook status change? 45 seconds...if that.
Aug 2, 2009 at 2:50 p.m.
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Darien police department should get a twitter and facebook account! I bet that would be an interesting site for them!!!!
Aug 2, 2009 at 2:40 p.m.
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Our taxed are going up? I just got my assesment yesterday, which went down, so my taxes should go down with them.
Aug 2, 2009 at 11:14 a.m.
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Our taxes go up again, and yet the police seem to have all this extra time on their hands. Let's cut their hours.
Aug 2, 2009 at 8:46 a.m.
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Facebook and Myspace are both great places for identity theft and to receive some nasty computer viruses from your "friends".....
Aug 2, 2009 at 3:34 a.m.
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Facebook and Twitter are websites, but they are essentially "feed" applications. Subscribers to the feed can get the information in many different ways -- e-mail, cell phone, etc. Users of a website only see the information when they go to the website. It is harder to communicate timely information using just the latter.
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Lost_city, I suspect you're just teasing, but a face book is something that some colleges would put together as a student directory, matching names to faces. The original Facebook was limited to selected colleges.
Aug 2, 2009 at 12:28 a.m.
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JasonTh: Oops! You are so correct. I goofed.
Aug 1, 2009 at 11:35 p.m.
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Lost_City - that's a good idea. I would hope Milton does this. There are a lot of easy ways to integrate facebook, twitter, and other social networks into your web site. Post your news once, and it gets broadcast to all the networks at the same time. So no matter where your audience is - they'll have the option of seeing your posts on their prefered network.
SarahB - Facebook is very healthy and evolving quickly to their customers. MySpace just layed off 30% of their staff because they couldn't evolve.
Aug 1, 2009 at 10:36 p.m.
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Facebook is on its way out.
Aug 1, 2009 at 9:53 p.m.
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Well put, J-villean. For all you Luddites out there who don't get it, this is the way your grandkids will be communicating and finding out about emergencies, alerts, and general information in their community. Twitter and Facebook are designed for mobility to go everywhere a cell phone and Blackberry go, which means everywhere. Way to be out in front, Milton. Janesville has much to learn from you.
Aug 1, 2009 at 8:38 p.m.
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Why don't they just post this same information on the cities website? I am just thinking that if I want to know what the Milton Police is doing I would check the city website first.
P.S. What's a facebook?
Aug 1, 2009 at 7:22 p.m.
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Since Milton doesn't have a daily paper, and the Gazette doesn't cover Milton in much depth, I think this is a good enhancement of the police department's communication with the community.
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The link to the Facebook profile is here:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1...
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Already 52 friends!
Aug 1, 2009 at 7:14 p.m.
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How about more patrols and speeding tickets and less wasted time on the computer
Aug 1, 2009 at 4:47 p.m.
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I'm sorry but this article rubs me the wrong way, like its a game or something to make an arrest or to promote a public shaming registry. The justice system should spend some of that Twitter time between catch and release on rehabilitating those in their care. Truths @ www.oncefallen.com
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