HEALTHPLAN MAGAZINE

We all know how effective Twitter the social media platform can be when contacting friends, family or even marketing our businesses, but did you know that it's also been adopted by the Spanish national police (Policía Nacional)?

With over 680,000 Twitter followers, the national police are learning to use the popular social media platform in a more preventative way and this is paying dividends when it comes to fighting crime.

The national police first started to use Twitter in 2009, but it is only since the arrival of tech savvy director general Ignacio Cosido, that they have really started to see results. It's not only a great form of crime prevention, it's also an extremely cost effective way for the already cash-strapped police force to tackle crime.

In a recent statement Fernandez Guerra, the National Police's social media manager, said: "While the FBI mostly publishes statements, we are more proactive and use social media in a preventive way."

"We find Twitter the most useful communication tool to connect with citizens and chase criminals."

If this wasn't enough, the National Police have also embraced other social media channels such as Facebook (70,000 fans) and YouTube. They have also been contacted by other law enforcement agencies from around the world looking to learn from their great success.

So criminals beware! Spanish law enforcement just got social!

You can find the Policía Nacional at the following URL's.

https://twitter.com/policia/

https://www.facebook.com/PoliciaNacional?fref=ts

http://www.youtube.com/user/Policia/