@OxfordPolice Host Virtual Ride-Along Double Decker Saturday

After a successful first attempt, Oxford Police Department will host another virtual ride-along during Double Decker weekend.

During the day Saturday, Twitter feeds will be filled with tweets from @OxfordPolice to let the community #RideWithOPD. Tweets will begin Saturday morning and continue throughout the day.

“There will probably be a lot of parking issues addressed. That’s probably our No. 1 biggest complaint on Double Decker,” Lieutenant Hildon Sessums said. “It becomes a game of TETRIS with cars — wherever they think they can stick it is where they’re going to try to put it.”

Sessums began building the department’s social media presence during football season last fall with basic information about parking and traffic around town during gameday. Since then, they have gained nearly 4,000 new followers. During the department’s first virtual ride-along in March, many citizens became engaged with the process and followed the officers’ from the safety of home for hours into the night.

“I think the world that we live in today is about information now. They don’t want to wait until the news comes tomorrow,” Sessums said. “If you are transparent and open with folks, there’s a sense of ‘they’re keeping me involved,’ and you build trust that way.”

Earlier this month, Sessums posted photos of a suspect in a wallet theft case from a security camera, and within 36 minutes, community members had contacted the department and helped identify the suspect.

Sessums also helps manage the department Facebook page along with Major Jeff McCutchen, while the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the mounted patrol are run Friends of the Mounted Patrol Oxford, a non-profit organization that benefits the department.

Stay tuned to Twitter on Saturday for a behind-the-scenes look at an Oxford officer’s day!

Amelia Camurati is editor of HottyToddy.com and can be reached at amelia.camurati@hottytoddy.com.