Twittering. Here's what some think of it.

[burythehatchet]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/13/police.social.networking/index.html

But increasingly, police and fire departments across the country are tapping into social networking to disseminate information to the public.

"We think the police department has an obligation to get information out to the community through whatever means or mechanisms we have at our disposal," said Lakeland Police Assistant Chief Bill LePere. "Traditional media releases, expecting the local print media to pick it up and run it in the newspaper tomorrow, is 24 hours too late."

With Twitter and Facebook, there is immediacy. Information can be shared as quickly as the poster can hit send.

Public safety officials are finding the use of sites to be not only speedy, but also a convenient way to distribute press releases, Amber alerts, road closings and suspect descriptions.

Bruce Frazier, public relations specialist for the Dalton Police Department in Dalton, Georgia, said the way in which Lakeland police utilized Twitter is exactly what he envisioned when his department started using the site a few weeks ago.