San Rafael Police: Top Ten in the U.S. in Twitter Followers

The San Rafael Police Department’s Twitter account has more followers than most of the other police departments of its size in the U.S. 

That’s according to the IACP Center for Social Media’s recently released “Most Twitter Followers” top ten lists for various sizes of police agencies, ranking the San Rafael Police Police Department as #9 in a top 10 list of agencies with 50 to 99 sworn officers:

1. Mountain View, California, Police Department (5,932)
2. Billerica, Massachusetts, Police Department (5,444)
3. Bellevue, Nebraska, Police Department (4,832)
4. Naples, Florida, Police Department (4,779)
5. Dublin, Ohio, Division of Police (4,698)
6. Franklin, Tennessee, Police Department (4,670)
7. Arcadia, California, Police Department (4,532)
8. Burlington, Massachusetts, Police Department (4,509)
9. San Rafael, California, Police Department (4,090)
10. Juneau, Alaska, Police Department (3,374)

San Rafael Police Lieutenant Dan Fink started the @SanRafaelPolice Twitter account in March 2009 and has watched the social media platform steadily rise to prevalence.

“It has become a huge deal in the last three or four years,” he told Patch.

Fink said he’s heard from countless community members who appreciated being be able to link a face to the police department. He’s also been contacted by several police agencies, including the Central Marin Police Authority and the Fairfax Police, to share his twitter tips.

“A lot of agencies have Twitter handles, but unless they make it a two-way connection with the public, people will lose interest,” Fink said.

Fink has frequently attended “Marin Tweetups,” or gatherings at bars or restaurants where local Twitter users can meet in person. “The coolest thing i’ve personally gotten out of Twitter is the connections i’ve made with people in the community at real life meetings,” Fink said. “It’s been worth all of the time we’ve put into it.”

Fink did all the tweeting from the official San Rafael Police handle for years, but he has shared the duty with San Rafael Police Spokesperson Margo Rohrbacher for the last year.

Fink also tweets from his personal account, @ThinkFink2012. Now, several officers have Twitter accounts as well as the San Rafael Police K9 Association (@srpolicek9). Fink said officials are also talking about making Twitter accounts for each of the police agencie’s dogs.

As of May 17, the @SanRafaelPolice Twitter account had 4,203 followers.

“We’re really pleased to have that many followers and to make a list like that,” Rohrbacher said. “We have more followers than some bigger agencies do.”

Rohrbacher added that it’s important to note that the Twitter account doesn’t replace any of the avenues already in place to get in contact with the police.

“We don’t monitor it 24/7 and it’s not a substitute for people calling for assistance, but it’s a nice additional tool,” she said.

Fink said Twitter has “definitely” become more mainstream in the last few years.
“People still make fun of Twitter and the nerd aspect, but it’s not that anymore. It’s becoming an important part of living,” he said. “[If you’re not on Twitter] you might miss out on some breaking news or something going on in the world.”

The other Marin agency that made a IACP list was the Sausalito Police Department, which ranked #3 the smaller category of law enforcement agencies with 16 to 25 sworn officers.

1. Epping, New Hampshire, Police Department (2,303)
2. Ledyard, Connecticut, Police Department (2,012)
3. Sausalito, California, Police Department (1,999)
4. Saratoga Springs, Utah, Police Department (1,757)
5. Newtown, Ohio, Police Department (1,531)
6. Hillsdale, New Jersey, Police Department (1,222)
7. Bellmawr, New Jersey, Police Department (1,206)
8. Raynham, Massachusetts, Police Department (1,183)
9. Orrville, Ohio, Police Department (1,113)
10. Pelham, New Hampshire, Police Department (1,044)

Rohrbacher attended a social media conference with Sausalito Police Chief Jennifer Tejada and helped Tejada set up her twitter account @ChiefTejada.

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