Behind the Scenes of the Warrensburg Police Department’s Facebook Page
The Warrensburg Police Department's Facebook page is hilarious. If you haven't been following it, you should. Not only do they get information out to the public quickly, they usually do it in a way that's really entertaining. The administrator of the page is anonymous (which probably is a good thing), but we asked that person to answer a few questions about their unique social media strategy.
The Warrensburg Police Department’s Facebook page is hilarious! What led the PD to decide to use a quirky Facebook strategy?
Social Media is huge. I did a lot of research on what other departments were doing and what was working (and what doesn’t). Luckily, I have an amazing Chief who trusts me (and my sarcasm—yes, I’m naturally like this), and let me take the reins. After my first post in August our followership boomed. We went from 2,000 followers to over 11,000. I think that’s amazing. We are getting information out, in a rather unconventional method, but it works.
#jackwagons ends up on your page a lot. How do you define a jackwagon?
Someone who either doesn’t follow the rules, laws, or directions or thinks they don’t apply to them.
From the comments, it looks like most people enjoy your humor, but do you ever get complaints from people that don’t find it funny?
Initially we had a few people who didn’t appreciate the humor, but our followers took care of them. We haven’t heard from them since.
What pages does the PD follow? We’ve seen you tag the fire department a few times.
We follow a lot of the Warrensburg businesses, other Police/Sheriff’s Departments, and of course the Fire Department. We love to haze them. #hoseholders
Have any arrests ever resulted from comments made on the Facebook page?
We do get a lot of intel messaged to us on Facebook. But when we post photos asking for information, sometimes the response is overwhelming. Don’t get me wrong, overwhelming is good when you’re asking for information. I feel like I’m avoiding your question…yes, we’ve made an arrest from one of my posts.
What are some memorable comments or questions you’ve received from the public?
I have these two followers that always comment on road closures and ask what will happen if they decide to drive on a closed street, and another follower who complains that people urinate in his yard as they are walking home from Pine Street after bar closing. Everyone now knows not to pee in Paul’s yard (not that they know exactly where Paul lives).
What are a few ways the public should not use the PD Facebook page?
We frequently have people messaging us that there is a crime is being committed. If those things happen, we need to be notified immediately and obviously Facebook messenger isn’t ideal. Please call 911 if it’s an emergency or Central Dispatch at 660-747-2265. Our Facebook page is not monitored 24-7, so something may get missed.