Why police tweet this daily: #9PMRoutine
Residents urged to take precautions to avoid becoming victims of crime.
These social-media posts act as a public-service reminder to fight crimes of opportunity, Riviera Beach police say.
Riviera Beach police aren’t only taking to the streets to fight crime — they’re also taking to the internet.
The department’s social-media team uses one hashtag nearly every day to remind people to do the #9PMRoutine: Lock your car doors, hide or bring in valuables and lock your front door.
The daily tweet, accompanied by GIFs and pictures, comes in the wake of wallets, purses, guns and more being taken from parked cars. In Port St. Lucie this week, some suspects went as far as to steal spare keys from an unlocked car and used them to steal another car.
These social-media posts act as a public-service reminder to fight crimes of opportunity, said Rose Anne Brown, Riviera Beach police spokeswoman.
Police worry about criminals noticing an item in a car, checking the doors to see if they are locked, and then committing the burglary because they aren’t.
Each tweet reminds residents to lock their doors and secure their belongings. Brown said it’s a small action that can have a big payoff.
“People subject themselves to it,” Brown said. “You’re ready to get into your evening routine and you forget to take the proper precautions. This is something to remind them, if you will, of what might help them to be safe and have a better quality of life.”
Authorities say these crimes are common. There were 7,112 car burglaries reported to the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office in 2017, a rate of 20 per day. They’ve happened at about the same rate in 2018, with 3,297 reported through July 10, according to the office.
Riviera Beach isn’t the only social-savvy depart-
ment. The hashtag is being used in a social media campaign across the country.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office has used it as a crime-prevention tool. Officer Jeff Kittredge, spokesman for Stuart police, said his agency has been tweeting and posting #9PMRoutine for about a year to remind people of what could happen if they don’t take preventative measures.
The tweet goes out in the evening before people get settled at home for the night.
“People’s lives are stressful enough,” Kittredge said. “You can forget little things like locking your door. This is just meant to give you a little peace of mind.”
In 2017, Stuart had 105 car burglaries, according to the department. There have been 72 since Jan. 1, 2018 — about a 16 percent increase in the first six months of 2018 when compared to 2017.
Only 12 car burglaries in 2017 were “forced,” such as when a burglar uses tools or breaks a window to enter a car, according to Stuart pol i c e . There have been 11 in the first six months of 2018.
“It seems like every morning we’re handling a complaint of someone rummaging through someone’s cars,” Kittredge said.
While the #9PMRoutine campaign won’t stop crime by itself, officers said it’s a valuable outreach program. Brown said it gets good feedback from the community in Riviera Beach.
“You find that people come to expect it every night,” she said.
Still, not all agencies are using the hashtag. Officer Jessica Desir, spokeswoman for Boca Raton police, said her social media team has never used the hashtag. While it’s not opposed to using it, it has chosen to not tweet it so far.
She said crime in Boca Raton is down 12 percent overall so far in 2018, and fell 18 percent last year.
“We don’t want people to think that all this crime is happening after 9,” Desir said. “We want people to take preventative measures all day, every day.”