Twitter alerts developed for critical information

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has launched a new Twitter alert messaging system to give the public “critical information when they need it most”.

PSNI Superintendent Phillip Knox said: “We know how important it is to be able to communicate reliable information during times of emergency. When news breaks about an emergency incident, responders jump into action, not just on the ground, but also on social media, delivering critical and timely information and engaging with local communities.

“Social media has now revolutionised communication during emergency incidents. More often than not, it is now the first place people go to seek information when breaking news of a critical incident emerges.”

He said with that in mind, the PSNI is encouraging people to sign up to Twitter alerts on @PoliceServiceNI “to get accurate and timely information directly from a trusted source”.

“This is a tool available only to select public agencies and emergency organisations, such as the police and public safety/emergency management agencies, that provide critical information to the general public,” said Supt Knox.

“It is a new feature that brings us one step closer to helping users get important and reliable information during emergencies or possibly when other communications services aren’t accessible.”

Alert messages will appear on subscribers’ phones as push and/or SMS notifications only when authoritative accounts mark tweets as alerts. They will appear differently from regular tweets as they will be indicated with an orange bell.

Supt Knox added: “It is important to stress that this will only be used in the event of an emergency or critical incident. Members of the public do not need to be worried that they will receive constant notification messages from this account. They will only receive an alert when absolutely necessary.

“By asking people to sign up to our Twitter alerts we hope to enhance the visibility and accessibility of reliable, official information. Keeping people safe is what we do and this will help support officers to be able to do that.”