Title: NZ Police Set To Tweet From The Beat

Police will tweet from the beat as they join law enforcement officers around the world to highlight their work through social media on Friday 22nd March from 8.00am - midnight.

The first global Tweet-a-thon will see officers and staff from 150 law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand sharing their frontline experiences over a 24 hour period via Twitter.

New Zealand Police will have staff involved from Counties Manukau and Bay of Plenty districts plus Police National Headquarters.

"Our involvement in the Tweet-a-thon will give people an insight into the variety of jobs we attend every day." said police General Manager of Public Affairs, Karen Jones.

"Officers including general duties staff, Search and Rescue, Neighbourhood Policing Teams, CIB, dog handlers and road policing will share their shift through Twitter and provide a virtual ride-along for anyone to follow.

"I hope people will get an insight into the variety of work our staff are involved with. Of course they'll be tweeting about emergency responses, but I'm particularly hoping the public will learn more about our focus on prevention and victims."

New Zealand Police twitter feeds @BetterWorkStory, @ManukauPolice and @BOPPolice will all carry the experiences of staff throughout the day using the hashtag #poltwt.

"Social media is becoming an increasingly important way for New Zealand Police to communicate with the people we serve, just as it is for many law enforcement agencies around the world." says Karen.

"This is a unique event and I'm confident the Tweet-a-thon will showcase Kiwi style policing on a world stage and highlight why we continue to enjoy a trust and confidence rating of 82% by the New Zealand public."

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Note: Twitter should NOT be used for emergency calls - anyone requiring urgent assistance should dial 111.

No information about identities, addresses and locations of incidents will be shared via Twitter.

Further details of participating law enforcement agencies can be found at:

https://twitter.com/ConnectedCOPS/police-tweet-a-thon-2013/members

ENDS

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