Ride Along With Police Without Actually Riding Along

Tampa Bay area residents who want to find out what it’s like to patrol the streets after dark are invited to “ride along” with the Sarasota Police Department Thursday night.

The agency is playing host to its eighth virtual ride along, dubbed Tweet from the Beat, Thursday starting at 6 p.m. The event will continue until about 2 a.m. Friday morning.

Throughout the evening, Sgt. Robert Armstrong and other patrol officers provide updates, videos and photos for the department’s Twitter page. Followers of @SarasotaPD will also be able to ask officers questions and learn more about what it’s like on the road.

“Our Tweet from the Beat program has been very successful with residents and law enforcement from here in the City of Sarasota and all over the country as they interact with our officers,” Acting Deputy Chief Pat Robinson said. “This event is a great opportunity for our local and virtual community to communicate and interact with our officers in the city we protect and serve.”

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Tweet from the Beat got its start in November 2013 and has become a somewhat regular outreach effort for the agency, said Genevieve Judge, the department’s spokeswoman. Judge acts as a go-between during the events, receiving information from officers and tweeting on their behalf. She also rides along so information is shared in real time.

“(It’s) a great way for folks to see what we do every day and night,” Judge said. “ I try to mix work and fun on the tweets – sharing the calls the officers go out on plus some fun facts about the officer I’m with.”

The program also serves a serious purpose, Judge said.

“The followers we gain during these programs help us then when we share photos of missing people or when we are looking for suspects in cases,” she said. “It’s really a win-win.”

To join officers on the beat Thursday, April 9, just follow the Sarasota Police Department on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of the Sarasota Police Department

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