The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything about how we live our lives, and that’s no different for the Tustin Police Department and its community policing programs. For example, take neighborhood watch.
Because the pandemic makes face-to-face meetings practically impossible, the department’s Community Relations division has been utilizing Zoom videoconferencing technology to host virtual meetings and is increasing its social media outreach through apps like Nextdoor, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to keep the lines of communication open.
“We wanted to still engage with the community and virtual programming wasn’t something we were using,” said Police Services Officer Jennifer Dlugitch. “These platforms (such as Zoom, FaceTime and Google Hangouts, to name a few) are available, and they allow people to join from wherever and whenever they can so they don’t have to rush home from work or take time to do personal business on the job.”