Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are using Social Media site Twitter to give the public an idea of the workload officers face.
Chief Constable Peter Fahy said it would also give politicians an idea of the kind of incidents “not recognised in league tables and measurements”.
Officers are posting updates on three GMP feeds on the social networking site until 0500 BST on Friday.
By 0900 BST the force’s Twitter page had been updated with more than 350 calls from members of the public.
Among them were calls about someone smoking on a flight into Manchester Airport, what to do about an unwanted guest and horses running wild in Atherton.
A woman rang about a car she abandoned at a petrol station in Bury after she put the wrong fuel in the tank and officers were deployed to Rochdale after a child was injured in a crash.
“Policing is often seen in very simple terms, with cops chasing robbers and locking them up,” said Mr Fahy.
“However, the reality is that this accounts for only part of the work they have to deal with.
“A lot of what we do is dealing with social problems such as missing children, people with mental health problems and domestic abuse.
“Often these incidents can be incredibly complex and need a lot of time, resources and expertise.
“I am not saying that we shouldn’t deal with these types of incidents, far from it, but what I am saying is that this work is not recognised in league tables and measurements, yet is a huge part of what we do.”
This innovative experiment following GMP’s emergency phone calls will give the public an unprecedented insight into police daily life.
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To read the above article in full please click the following link: BBC News
Nick Cooper
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