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Colorado State Patrol Starts Using Twitter

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May 25, 2009 8:06 am US/Mountain

Colorado State Patrol Starts Using Twitter

Written by Karlyn Tilley
DENVER (CBS4) ― The Colorado State Patrol is joining the ranks of the growing Twitter population in hopes of using the social media Web site to help troopers reach out to the public.

"It's a great way we think to be able to spread a message quickly," said Col. James Wolfinbarger, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. "This microblogging I hope is a good way to be able to highlight the efforts of the patrol and our people."

On Sunday Wolfinbarger was able to get information out quickly to Twitter followers when a trooper chased a speeding suspect down Interstate 25 in El Paso County.

The chase ended when the suspect crashed into another car and caused a big mess.

"The first message that I posted had to do with the interstate being shut. And then the next one I posted had to do with it reopening as soon as it opened up," Wolfinbarger said.

Troopers have laptop computers in their cars so they can post updates on Twitter when they are safely pulled over at an accident scene.

Wolfinbarger admits this is an experiment.

"We're going to have to work through it, I mean, nothing's going to be immediately smooth but it's going to be part of an ongoing process of being able to kind of streamline the way we deliver information to the public and to our people," he said.

So far the State Patrol doesn't have many followers on Twitter but Wolfinbarger expects that if troopers keep putting out important and timely information the Tweeters will follow.

"If it's effective and it works and people are getting some value out of it within our agency our publicly we'll keep using it. If it's something that peters off and is ineffective, well maybe we won't use it. But if we don't try it and give it a shot, we're never going to know whether it's an effective tool."

Additional Resources

You can check out the feed at Twitter.com/CSPChief.

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