POLICE are stepping up their use of social media to reach out directly to the communities they serve.

Durham Police today (MON) re-launched its Facebook pages as part of an overhaul of its social media, which allows officers to talk directly to tens of thousands of people across the force area.

Over the last few years, dozens of Facebook pages have been set up by various units within Durham Police, but they are now being brought together into a more organised structure.

Superintendent Kerrin Smith, of Durham Police, said: “We have been using social media as a force for five or six years and traditionally we had a force page and as many as 50 other pages.

“We have now rationalised that and from today, we will have one force Facebook page and 14 local neighbourhood pages which mirror the area covered by a neighbourhood inspector.

“The purpose is to inform and connect with people in that area.

“We’re hoping to improve the quality of those pages and make the content much more relevant to those communities.”

Durham is one of only a handful of forces to operate more than one Facebook page, giving neighbourhood police teams the chance to engage with their communities on local issues.

Pages will include a broad variety of information and open up another channel of communication for residents to contact police on non-emergency issues.

Supt Smith said: “We will be putting updates on crimes and witness appeals on there, but it’s much wider than that.

“It helps spread the word on police campaigns, forthcoming police and community meetings, and updates on what other agencies are doing, such as events taking place at a local school.

“We try to make it a two-way process and take account of any comments and messages sent through Facebook”

The force page, and links to its 14 neighbourhood pages, are available at www.facebook.com/durhamconstabulary