Get real-time traffic updates from Delhi Police's Facebook Live feed
The next worse thing after Delhi's pollution is the traffic congestion, which makes commuting really difficult. Delhi Traffic Police has always been very active when it comes to making the roads safer for the citizens and their social media team has been doing a great job since 2008. And now, to help Delhiites better, the department is all set to go live on Facebook.
Recently, a team from Facebook visited the Delhi Traffic Police headquarters to sensitize cops about the posts that attract users' attention and how to make the best use of social-media to address citizens' complaints. "A team of 50 policemen will be trained for this initiative. The objective is to improve the outreach of Delhi Police's social-media platforms," Joint CP (traffic), Alok Kumar, told media.
About the Facebook live feature, Kumar said, "The traffic police is likely to use Facebook live for the dissemination of information." There will also be live videos of police personnel giving information about traffic conditions, including online teams giving real-time information about traffic jams. Citizens around the area can also post suggestions in the videos and cops have consulted experts to prepare live-interactive sessions.
The police personnel might use Google Maps that'll help them know better about the traffic congestion and suggest better routes. The present social media team of the traffic police says 40% of the complaints are about jams while the rest are about improper parking or unruly riders. The new Facebook live updates will help everyday commuters to select the best route and dodge traffic.
The traffic police receive 1,800-2,000 messages every day on complaints and snarls on its WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. Out of these, around 150-200 are found to be actionable. Usually, the traffic police gives an automated reply to complainants on its social media accounts, but now they are going to provide an 'action-taken' report to the complainant, giving it a personal touch.
The traffic police personnel will also post updates on WhatsApp and inform the people about the status of their complaints. Meanwhile, on Twitter, the Delhi Traffic Police's page has currently over 2.57 lakh followers while its Facebook page has nearly 2.67 lakh likes. Both the social media handles will now have safety instructions for drivers, apart from the interactive sessions, said a police officer.
On a lighter note, the cops are designing GIFs and comic strips with the help of professionals. The police personnel's idea is to record videos about road safety and put them along with these illustrations, thus giving traffic lessons in an amusing manner.
