Facebook is helping fight crime in Tavares.

  • Tavares Police Department using social media to fight crime
  • The department created a Facebook page
  • So far it has almost 4,000 followers

The police department is providing a unified front to protect the citizens against crime.

The department created a facebook page four months ago and it has almost 4,000 followers.

"We are a small city so for us to have those amount of followers, not only people from our city but even out of state," said Corporal Sarah Coursey, Tavares Police Department.

Comical hashtags like #sinkemsaturday, #fliponhimfriday and #throwherunderthebusthursday attract even more followers.

Corporal Sarah Coursey manages the page for the police department.

According to Coursey, the police department uses the social media page everyday. When the department posts pictures of wanted suspects, about 90-percent of the time they receive calls from people who follow their page.

"We had this video on the Facebook page and he turned himself in, he didn't want that video to be on Facebook," said Stoney Lubis, Tavares Police Chief.

However, the police chief said this is more than just a crime fighting tool.

"We are talking to them, we are people too. Let us know everything about us and be familiar with us as agency, not just the cold hard facts, but who we are as a people, said Lubis.

The police department is now thinking about getting a Nextdoor account and Instagram.