Not many followers for city police Twitter account

But when compared to their Mumbai and Bengaluru counterparts, the disparity is evident. The former’s account stands at 65,000 tweets and the latter’s at 75,000. Even the Hyderabad City Police account counts 22,300 updates.

However, what really stands out about police forums in other metros is the creativity and engaging content shared by the dedicated social media team handling the accounts. From advising against drunken driving to advocating safe pedestrianism and vigilance at night, it is evident that expert social media strategists have been employed to make the accounts accessible and interesting.

When contacted, a senior source from the police department who works actively with their Facebook and Twitter handles told DTNext that their ten-member team is on top of things. “We have people manning the accounts 24*7, and whenever there is a complaint, a response is administered to assure them. The respective Deputy Commissioner is intimated, who then informs the station in the locality. Within three days, our team also verifies if the complaint is legit. In a week, we try to resolve the problem and inform the original complainant,” he said.

The senior officer adds that in case the issue is serious, the police meets the complainant in person. “We get an average of 10 tweets/ FB posts every day from users. However, most times it’s only petty cases. 

People usually come to the station directly depending on the incident. There are several who have thanked us on the Twitter and FB pages for providing a solution.” Other avenues for citizens include complaints on the website of the Chennai police, and the TN Police Citizen Services app. However, there are those who feel that the social media team needs to be more responsive and engage with users. M Kavitha, a marketing executive in Chennai, said, “When I lived in Bengaluru, a cab driver tried to assault me. I tweeted to the police at midnight – and not only did I get an immediate reply, but was also assured of action. Several friends also received satisfactory results. However, after I moved to Chennai last year, I faced a problem due to an unruly watchman outside our hostel. We tweeted it to the city police, but we didn’t get any reply at all.”

She added, “If the Chennai police administered a quick response time to complaints and addressed our questions real-time, it would go a long way towards making us feel safer – and also increase the number of followers who reach out to them.”