Kevin O’Neal of the Indianapolis Star wrote a great piece about the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department creating a YouTube account to post videos and photos of criminals in action. It’s a smart way to grab people where they are, and if it works could be a new model for community policing

Ironically, Butler University just dismissed police officers caught using city-issued laptops for social networking, among other things. Imagine how police officers could use a focused social networking effort to create a rich community policing effort. Cops don’t walk a beat anymore, they don’t stand on the stoop and talk to people. Facebook, Myspace, and other sites would put a face on police officers and make them accessible community resources, reducing friction between them and the public they serve and protect in the process.