Lots of police departments I’ve worked with as a reporter usually rate a D or F when it comes to public relations.
But give the Los Angeles Police Department an A for effort for its new blog. It includes run-of-the mill stuff like internal promotions. But you’ll also find lots of newsy tidbits.
Yesterday, for example, the department blogged about the bust of an $18.4 million counterfeit designer merchandise operation, complete with photos of Chanel jewelery and Gucci designer handbags. The blog is surprisingly short on the monotonous cop-speak (“At approximately 22 hundred hours, a white male suspect…” and describes a crime in much the same way you’d describe it to a friend.
The department reviews comments before posting them, just like I do at this blog. But many of the comments are unflattering, which gives the LAPD blog credibility.
The blog was the idea of Chief William Bratton, whose son works with the Boston Police Department which also has a blog.