Bobbies on the tweet

Exeter police are tweeting advice for students on staying safe in the city.

The scheme, a partnership with the Guild, aims to make it easier for students to stay aware of crime levels, safety messages and city information.

Their Twitter page features a variety of tweets such as “over half #crimes in #Exeter city centre in last two days were #shoplifting offences” to “male moved on by #police from #Exeter shop doorway after…continually urinating over their property.”

Chief Inspector Terry Bissessar said “We have used some hard hitting messages interspersed with information [students] will take notice of, for instance, where the best bars are.”

“The last thing we want to do is criminalise these young people – we just want to make them safe,” the Chief Inspector continued, and indeed, the Twitter page welcomes updates from the public on what’s going on via the website.

Ryan Munns, a third year Engineering student told The Tab: “My friend follows them on Twitter and I probably would too, if I had Twitter. It’s good to know where crimes are happening so you can live in a safe area. I think it’s a great idea.”