Social media frenzy as Blackpool police reveal all

Immediate response officers, who are the first on the scene whenever a 999 call comes in, are planning to share their work with the people they work to keep safe.

From today, they will be using official police social media accounts to share details of the various incidents they deal with on a daily basis.

Officers will be signing their posts on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #team3takeover for the next week as they keep an online log of their work.

PC Matt Walters who is organising the social media takeover, said: “At the moment it is run by our neighbourhood officers.

“We want to give people an idea of what we do and an insight into the work of frontline officers in a busy place like Blackpool.

“We turn up first for every everything.

“We are the first people to deal with it before other departments like CID get involved.”

It means the team gets a huge range of call-outs, from break-ins to murders.

PC Walters said he hoped the week of social media activity would help people understand the work they do better – and help get across key information to keep residents safe.

He added: “In the town centre we deal with a very high volume of missing people.

“Now that it’s summer it is good to get some key messages across.”

During the tourist season, he said, police can get as many as three or four missing persons reports a day.

Although most are low risk and come to no harm, he hopes this week will help get important safety and crime prevention tips across to the public.

PC Walters, who is based at Blackpool police station, on Bonny Street, said: “It is new thing for is, not something we have done before.

“Hopefully it will help improve relations with the public and give people an insight into life as a frontline officer.

“It will show people the variety of things we deal with.”

In particular, he said, the 11-hour shifts on a Friday and Saturday night in Blackpool are likely to be an eye-opener.

“They are really busy shifts,” he said.

“We deal with a lot of jobs every day.”

The social media takeover was due to start at 7am today on the Blackpool Police Twitter and Facebook accounts.

It will see officers posting details of jobs they deal with throughout the week, alongside other facts about the nature of their work.

The takeover will end at 7am on Tuesday.

To follow the posts, search for the #team3takeover hashtag or follow Blackpool Police on Facebook and Twitter.