ScanBC Twitter account poses issues for Vancouver Police
Posted March 9, 2014 11:46 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A popular Twitter account could potentially cause problems for Vancouver Police.
More than 40,000 people follow the ScanBC Twitter account, which collects and shares information from police scanners across the province.
Constable Sandra Glendinning is the social media officer with Vancouver Police and says this can lead to confusion when people interpret scanner chatter as fact. “They inadvertently they put out information that’s going to end up causing more harm than good. Earlier this week they put out that there had been a bomb explosion, well no, it was fireworks in a bag.”
Glendinning says people can put whatever they want online, but it doesn’t mean the police have to like it. “It causes a little bit of fear sometimes with people if they see something happening in their neighbourhood. Last year we had one where somebody said an aircraft had crashed in English Bay and ScanBC put it out. Well, it was a Japanese lantern for some celebration.”
She says having specific addresses or police locations tweeted out can also raise problems for VPD.
