Facebook Page Fights Crime, Brings El Dorado County Neighbors Closer Together
EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) — In less than two days, 16,000 people on a Facebook page in El Dorado County helped lead police to a man who escaped from a mental-health facility.
The group shares information about suspect sightings on the social-media site as part of the El Dorado County Watch page.
"Everyone on the page wants it to be a better place to live, we all share that in common," said Laura Clark.
She helps run the page, which has been up for two years now. People post everything from lost animals to weather reports, and even break-ins and burglaries.
The flow of information is fast, which is great for law enforcement.
"Law enforcement can't do it all on our own, that's why we need that partnership with the community," said Dave Stevenson with the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office.
The DA's office recently started sharing their Facebook posts on the watch page.
"We had the contact out, it was a felony welfare fraud," he said. "We had that person in custody within two hours after posting it on facebook and sharing with El Dorado County Watch."
Laura says she hopes more people will join the watch page. She says more people are invaluable when it comes to keeping the county safe.
"The information we get, and the people willing to help and the charitable things we are able to do, are because of those people," she said.