Police Officers To Get Their Very Own Social Network
What’s the Latest Development?
Starting in October, police officers and other accredited law enforcement personnel will have a social network made especially for them: BlueLine will bring people together from all over the world to share information and provide ideas on everything related to crime and crime-solving. It includes some of the same elements found on Facebook, such as the ability to “like” and “share,” and it also offers videoconferencing and an app store for third-party developers. The current beta test involves 100 officers from the Los Angeles area, and more departments are expected to join in the test this summer.
What’s the Big Idea?
BlueLine is the brainchild of Bill Bratton, who, as former commissioner for three of the US’ largest police forces — Boston, New York, and Los Angeles — saw a real need for a specialized and secure social network particularly for younger officers, who tend to overshare on more public sites. It represents a growing high-tech information sharing trend “that proponents say is producing a force-multiplying effect on crime-fighting in an era of dwindling police budgets and manpower. The collaboration enables better communication between different jurisdictions and helps police identify patterns of criminality.”
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