WYOMING, Minn.- A small Minnesota police department has made a big splash on social media taking their Twitter game to a whole new level.
Officers for the Wyoming Police Department are using humor to get important information, like distracted driving awareness, out to the masses and it seems to be working.
"We had to find a way to be entertaining but relative from a traditional public safety perspective on social media," said Paul Hoppe, the Director of Public Safety for the Wyoming Police Department. "We kind of use that tongue and cheek humor or that wit a little bit to deliver a message that otherwise people aren't listening to anymore."
We're talking 18-thousand followers and counting for tweets like this one.
"The strong manure smell in town is back. We checked the area for Packer fans and didn't find any, so we must assume it's the farm fields."
Or this one.
"Which happens first...People discovering the use of turn signals or people discovering the meaning of #covfefe"
Aside from the humor, the department started "Talk Tuesdays" where their followers can ask them about more serious topics like distracted driving.
"If I see someone texting and driving, can I make a citizen's arrest?" Or whether or not someone can play a YouTube playlist while driving.
Hoppee says this opens a line of communication and transparency educating the public one tweet at a time.
"Just turn it off, put it down, and answer the messages when you get some place to stop in traffic, to stop at a stoplight or stop sign," said Hoppe. "That is still illegal, that's still using your device while maneuvering your vehicle."