Metro agents take to Twitter

Most law enforcement agencies’ use of social media is rather staid.

They post photos of wanted suspects on Facebook, or provide some surveillance video of store robbers and home burglars, or congratulate officers who’ve won awards, or just send out some safety tips.

They don’t use street lingo, and they don’t taunt criminals.

Not so with Metro:

“Metros jumping out today better stash your stash #wontseeusuntilitstolate,” reads a tweet from Metro ‏@MetroNarcotic, the multi-agency Metro Narcotics Task Force authorized to operate in Muscogee and Harris County, Georgia, and Russell County, Ala.

“The lions are roaming the jungle tonight – gazelles beware #onthehunt,” reads another.

“Metro never sleeps. We are everywhere and nowhere. #betterwatchthemdoorhinges,” reads a third.

A fourth is more poetic: “1, 2 metro's comin for u.... 3, 4 we bout to bang your door.... 5, 6 better hide them bricks..... 7, 8 its a little to late #newfaceofmetro.”

The “New Face of Metro” is what police Lt. Debra Bohannon calls this effort to connect with younger residents who use Twitter more than Facebook, and use more text-message talk than standard English.

The specialized unit said so itself, in a tweet: “Ok so we are changing some things with our account. The Twitter account will be more for the younger (twenties or so) reader,” it posted March 16.

Bohannon notes that a lot of younger folks are video-gamers and celebrity fans. The latter follow their favorite actors and musicians on Twitter; the former play some games that glorify the gangster lifestyle.

“A lot of kids who typically would not have embraced that lifestyle, they think it’s cool to be this bad boy – to flash the dope, to flash the money and to have a gun,” said Bohannon, a 25-year police veteran who joined Metro two years ago.

“My thought is, it’s also cool to be the good guy who catches the bad guy, so you’ve got to talk that lingo to attract that group of people.”

Twitter seemed the best online tool to get good guys in the game, she said.

“Facebook, we want to use it more for PR, to put out to parents and say, this is what we’re seeing in the area; these are some tips that you can look for – not just with parents, but with maybe a spouse that you think is abusing prescription drugs,” she said.

Twitter may appeal even to lawbreakers who want to change their lives, she said: “We’re trying to attract even the drug addict. We put a lot of inspirational quotes about drug addiction, to say, hey, get help,” she said.

“Addiction is the only prison where the locks are on the inside...if u r struggling: GET HELP. #first steps the hardest!” reads a tweet from Tuesday.

The unit also uses Twitter to post photos of drugs and guns it has seized, and to provoke interaction with witnesses who may be of help.

“They can do private messages on Twitter, so we’ll take tips that way,” she said, but just adding a telephone number often is all that’s needed: “Our call volume has increased, as far as calling in, because we put our number out there.”

A direct line to Metro is 706-225-3660.

Bohannon noted she’s not writing the tweets. She lets the younger agents handle that, because they know the lexicon:

“I don’t post those. I have to read them sometimes, and have a younger guy who does it explain it, because I don’t speak that language.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 8:29 PM with the headline "Metro agents take to Twitter."