A screenshot of the Long Beach Police Department’s Facebook page taken June 14 at about 10 p.m.
 
9:55pm | It might have seemed as though everyone and their grandma had a Facebook page, but it wasn’t until today that the Long Beach Police Department officially announced that it, too, has given in and signed up for an account.

Though just announced, the department actually registered for and launched its Facebook page back in late April. According to the department, Facebook is just one more way in which it can reach out to the community and communicate with residents as well as department employees.

The page can be found at Facebook.com/LongBeachPD.CA and, according to information provided Tuesday by Jose M. Vazquez of the West Division’s Community Oriented Public Safety detail, anyone can view and use the page. That means that there is no requirement to sign up for a Facebook account in order to access the information (though registration is required in order to post a comment on the page’s wall).

“Members of the community will be able to access positive news stories, recent news releases, information on department programs such as Nixle, iWatch and Tipsoft, as well as police department-related events” on the department’s Facebook page, Vazquez said in a June 14 e-mail.

The page currently features a short “welcome” video courtesy of LBPD Chief Jim McDonnell.

“We hope that while navigating our page, you’ll find helpful information,” McDonnell says in the video. “This page was created to facilitate another avenue of communication between the Long Beach Police Department and our community.”

The page’s left-hand column is chock full of links and applications, including a direct link to Tipsoft, where residents can leave crime tips online anonymously, and a direct link to sign up with Nixle, a web-based service that sends those who register e-mails (there is also an option to be sent SMS text messages) regarding important alerts, information and notices from one’s local police department.

There is also a “Posting and Takedown Policy” informing those who choose to use the department’s new Facebook page of its Terms of Use and listing a set of rules relative to the types of wall posts that the department will allow versus those it will remove.

As of 9:55 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, the LBPD Facebook page had 206 “Likes.”