New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
The FBI maintains a ‘Most Wanted List’ of most wanted criminals wanted by the federal government. It’s a great way to bring awareness to the public of the most dangerous among us. It’s now becoming common practice for city police departments to publish a ’10 Most Wanted List’. It’s an effective way to get the local population to provide tips and social media provide police with the speed and dissemination to reach a large portion of the population.
The New Bedford police department has made major strides with information dissemination over the past year with new Chief Joseph Cordeiro. Their Facebook page has nearly 25,000 followers, roughly 25% of the population of New Bedford. Posting a most wanted list to their social media while sending the list to the local media would ensure the widest distribution. Posting updates of captured criminals and new criminals added, would grab and keep the attention of the population. People love getting involved and seeing their tips taking down the bad guys.
Here’s a look at a recent Fall River police most wanted list:
While not consistent, the Fall River police department receives some positive engagement on their Facebook page when they do post updates and the list clearly helps catch criminals. Several were caught within the first few days.
While New Bedford police do a fantastic job finding people with outstanding warrants, getting assistance from the public can only help, even in a place like New Bedford where reporting crime is frowned on in some neighborhoods. It wouldn’t take a lot of time to develop the list, maintain it and provide updates – literally an hour or so each week. That hour could result in the most dangerous among us being captured days or weeks early, likely preventing crime and even saving lives.
