Can you imagine "Dragnet" Detective "Joe Friday" on Facebook?
Neither can we, but that was generations ago when "Friday and Gannon" patrolled Los Angeles, and law enforcement has many more ways to present "just the facts" to the public.
The Ogden City Police Department and the Weber County Sheriff's Department recently created Facebook pages. The mission for the social media outreach is simple: The pages allow the public to interact quickly online with law enforcement and it allows law enforcement another teaching tool for the public about the work it does fighting crime and keeping the community safe.
We're all for the move to social media. It provides instant access and quick communication. In fact, the sheriff's office no longer releases a monthly business watch bulletin since it can be immediately posted to the Facebook page.
We do have one caveat about Facebook, and social media, of which our readers need to be aware. The Facebook pages by law enforcement agencies are not meant to be objective. They are designed to promote the department or office. There's nothing wrong with that occuring; cities, sports teams, and other organizations do it too. However, the public needs to be aware that a Facebook is not the only information available about law enforcement. The media will continue to cover objectively all news that emanates from local law enforcement.
We urge residents to check out the two local Facebook pages. You can find them both by going to Facebook and typing "Ogden City Police" and "Weber County Sheriff's Office." Facebook is a tremendous communication tool for individuals and organizations, with hundreds of millions of members from all areas of the world.
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