The Bothell Police Department (BPD) has been utilizing much more social and new media than ever before, with a twitter account and, now, a blog page.

According to Bothell police Cpt. Mike Johnson, a self proclaimed social media novice, the BPD has been working on these efforts for a while, though it took a bit more time than initially thought.

“We have been working towards getting the blog up and running for weeks (maybe months) but the learning curve was a little steep for us cops,” Johnson said in an email.

Though, difficulties have not stopped police before and neither will difficulties in social media.

“We quickly determined that we were not effectively messaging in 140 characters or less,” Johnson said. “There are times we will put out a simple tweet and times we will need more characters to tell more of the story.”

The blog will host many types of information, from things currently happening in the community to blotter reports, and other important notices for the public.

The BPD’s first official informational post concerned the search for the driver in a pedestrian and vehicle incident where the driver of a green Subaru Outback hit a female student crossing the road on her way to school.

“The search for the hit and run driver just worked out to be a good first post. As time allows we will be transitioning to more information being posted,” Johnson said. “We will also be looking to expand down the road. We are hoping to be able to post Animal Control information, [such as] lost/found animals, reminders about licensing, FAQs about leash laws, [and more].”

There will also be information about found bicycles, as there are a lot turned in to the BPD, in hopes of reconnecting owners with their two-wheeled property.

Along with property reports, there will also be information about celebrations within the precinct.

“We hope to post news and information about new hires (short bio and pic), news about promotions (we just promoted two sergeants and will be having a promo ceremony next week – I will post pics), retirements (to include a photo and a thanks for a job well done),” Johnson said in an email.

While there will be posts and twitter comments about certain types of enforcement, such as stop sign and speed limit enforcements, the BPD blog will most likely not comment on ongoing investigations or internal issues.

“As noted above, current issues such as the hit and run suspect, photos of fraud suspects (a pic on twitter with the tag, ‘I like to use stolen credit cards, do you know me’ type of stuff) and following up on the blog with more information than will fit in a tweet,” Johnson said.

For more information about the Bothell PD blog, please visit www.bothellpoliceblog.com or visit their twitter account at https://twitter.com/BothellPolice.