Twitterthon insight into an average police day

Between 7am and 7pm on Saturday, officers “tweeted” details of both calls and other operations, such as the policing at Oakwell during Barnsley FC’s game against Leicester City.

A spokesman for Barnsley Police said: “Overall, the Twitterthon went really well and gave an insight into a typical police day.

“We took over 90 calls and 23 people through custody, all of which were tweeted.

“The number of followers to all accounts increased throughout the day.”

Tweets from the police ranged from the serious – such as details of the continued investigation into the murder of teenager Lindsey Scholes 10 years ago – to the ridiculous, with one caller from Goldthorpe ringing 999 to say children were playing football outside his house.

Just 15 minutes before the end of the Twitterthon, Insp Alan Simpson tweeted: “Most common calls in Barnsley today – domestics, nuisance motorcycles and meat theft.”

Chief Supt Andy Brooke said prior to Saturday’s Twitterthon: “I am hopeful that if we are as transparent as possible, our public will have a clearer understanding of the complex role and demands faced by police.”

Barnsley Police, who were the first part of South Yorkshire Police to use Twitter in this way, tweeted from @SYPBarnsley using the hash tag #barnsley12.

However, they weren’t the first officers to use such communication methods. Greater Manchester Police did its own 24-hour Twitterthon in October last year.