Instead of bringing a single citizen on a ride-along, the Roswell Police Department is putting their nearly 6,000 Twitter followers in the passenger seat of a patrol car Thursday.
While in-person ride-alongs remain suspended, the department will share the experience with their community via social media. The virtual ride-along will last a full 12 hours on Thursday. The online event is intended to introduce the community to a few Roswell police officers and give followers an idea of what their days are like, the announcement said.
“We’ll be riding with a few officers over the course of their shift, live-tweeting about calls for service, patrol activity, and answering some questions as they come in!” the department tweeted.
The ride-along is a widely followed tradition that allows civilians to experience the workday of a police officer. Many of those who request ride-alongs are people with a specific interest in law enforcement, such as criminal justice students or journalists - including reporters from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Like many other face-to-face activities, ride-alongs with Roswell police and others have been suspended for a majority of the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tactic is seen as a way to engage the community and provide transparency into policing activities, the AJC previously reported.
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