03/07/07

Cops are bloggers

North Port Police have their own Web site forum

* The North Port Police Department has started their own blog on a service to discuss issues concerning them in an anonymous venue.

NORTH PORT -- Police officers now have a way to discuss issues of concern to them anonymously -- their own Web blog.

LEO Affairs(TM) (www.leoaffairs.com) hosts the nation's largest blog for law enforcement. There you will find Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and now North Port Police Department.

A blog is a Web-based journal where people provide commentary or news on a particular subject, and may do so anonymously, sharing comments with each other. Blogs can be open or closed, and some may require identification and permission to join in the discussion.

Technorati, a blog search engine, tracked almost 60 million blogs as of November, 2006.

According to its Web site, LEO Affairs "is a knowledge base for both law enforcement and corrections officers."

Although LEO Affairs states its service is not "agency or state specific" and is not meant to be a "slam site," the primary reason the site exists was based on an internal affairs investigation at another police department. From that, it grew to provide forums where police and the public can discuss concerns.

NPPD's blog, a little more than a month old, has discussion threads about vehicles, raises, and comments about Police Chief Terry Lewis sharing plans for improving policing.

In addition to police, some members of the public and the media can participate in the blog. "News Flash," for example, is a user who posts media coverage on stories of concern to the police department. News Flash makes similar posts to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Web site.

To visit the forum, go to forums.leoaffairs.com and scroll down until you see the "Florida" category. Agencies are listed alphabetically.

You can e-mail George McGinn at gmcginn@sun-herald.com.

By GEORGE MCGINN

Staff Writer