A lot like police Facebook page
TWEED Byron police officially have 1051 Facebook fans.
And that number is set to grow after the team behind the police social media initiative Project Eyewatch set up shop at Tweed City.
The online Facebook page gives police the opportunity to report information to the public and Neighbourhood Watch groups who can then relay information back.
The project was launched in August last year, with Tweed Byron Local Area Command one of the first in the state to trial the technology.
Project architect Chief Inspector Joshua Maxwell was at Tweed City with a team of officers teaching shoppers how to get involved.
He said the response had been impressive.
"We picked Tweed to trial because of the retired community that live here," Chief Insp Maxwell said.
"We wanted to test the capabilities of that demographic.
"We've just hit 1051 users which means that information is (also) available to about a quarter of a million people who are their online friends.
"We've only been set up here for half an hour and we've been flooded with people."
The page has received more than 264,000 hits.
Chief Insp Maxwell said the success of the project was testament to the hard work of Tweed Valley Neighbourhood Watch secretary Gordon Levenson and Flame Tree Park Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator Ray Payne.
Mr Levenson and Mr Payne are now Civilian Precinct Co-ordinators for the project and went to Sydney for specific training.
Mr Levenson said the response at Tweed City had been positive.
"Lots of people are stopping and asking us questions which is great," he said.
"It's just such a great way for people to communicate with the police."
The page is at facebook.com/TweedByronLAC.
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