Anaheim PD: Armed With A “High Caliber” Police Blog

Image courtesy Anaheim.net

Lots Of Good Content For A Police Blog

Anaheim Police Department really puts a lot of effort into their blog on WordPress. The site has a great looking header photo of department helicopter named “Angel” (how appropriate). The blog is easy to remember, listed as anaheimpd.wordpress.com. I know what you might be saying, “this doesn’t really relate much to private investigative work, so why post it”? I’ll tell you this, private investigators interact with police departments to retrieve police records, serve subpoenas on officers for criminal defense cases, contact the police during a surveillance investigation and sometime call for assistance on a case that gets “heated up”. Having a good community resource is quite invaluable and a good blog like this is worth spreading the word about. Besides the blog, Anaheim Police has their own website, which is part of Anaheim.net.

Anaheim Police: “Zen Master” With Public Relations?

The blog shows real officers, real accomplishments within the community, and has a very warm feel to the content. Since the days of LAPD Chief William Parker, police have often been more secluded from the community, working  in patrol cars and taking more of a distant approach to public relations. After reading some of blog articles, watching a few of their high quality videos on the side bar, I realized that the department really seems to enjoy their work in the community. They even brag about it, almost on a daily basis…this is a good thing.

Police departments sometimes struggle to balance the best interests of the community vs. the best interests of the department. Anaheim appears to maintain that balance, judging by what they post in their blog. I must say, Orange County law enforcement as a whole seem to be up to par when it comes to public relations. I’ve noticed at least one public relations officer from each department is assigned to this position on a full time basis. This is a real benefit for the news media and journalists, they have a direct point of contact who is trained to handle media inquiries. A big plus for the community.

Sgt. Martinez & Chief Welter (OCRegister.com)

The Department Honors Their Own

I remember an Orange County Register news article a few weeks ago which honored Sgt. Rick Martinez, the police department’s Public Information Officer (basically their PR official). The article talked about how Sgt. Martinez had been an adviser for the Explorer program for 25 year.  Police Explorers are program that gives youths the opportunity to explore law enforcement careers by working with local law enforcement agencies. The Sgt. was awarded a plaque by the Chief of Police and the Explorer “Post Number” (similar to a Boy Scout troop number) was changed to Sgt. Martinez’s police badge number…what an honor. Read the OC Register article here.

Sgt. LaRochelle (courtesy Anaheim PD Blog)

Officers Contribute To Blog Articles

Before writing about this on the Orange County Private Investigator Blog, I read an article on Anaheim PD’s blog about a former undercover officer recently getting a promotion to Patrol Sergent. His name is Sgt. LaRochelle, and he talks about his undercover experiences and how fighting crime can be both “ugly and rewarding”, read about it here, it’s titled New Sergeant Enjoys Ability to ‘Positively Impact People’s Lives’. I found it refreshing how actual officers took the time to contribute to the blog.

Videos Are Embedded In The Blog

Conclusion

I give this blog two thumbs up, very informative and really easy on the eyes with good content. Only thing I’d recommend to the blog administrators is to have the large header picture “clickable” to return viewers to the homepage. Before leaving the site, be sure to check out their video collection, the Tops Posts section, and the Breaking News press release page (at the top left corner of the homepage). Outside of the site they have their own Facebook Fan page and live Twitter feed within the blog. If anyone else has subscribed to this blog or knows the inside scoop on the Anaheim PD Blog, let me know or feel free to comment about it.

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Ryan Garrahy is a state licensed private investigator specializing in surveillance, background checks, worker’s compensation claims investigations, locating individuals and workplace investigations.

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