Garner police try podcasting

Shoppers warned of online dangers

GARNER -- The town's police officers have taken a more interactive approach to warning shoppers of the dangers associated with shopping online.

They used the message in their first news video podcast this week. The Garner Police Department is the first jurisdiction in the Triangle to try podcasting to distribute information.

The shows, Sgt. Joe Binns said, are the department's way of getting news out to the latest generation of information gatherers.

"I think you hit the younger generation more so this way," he said. "A lot of them get their news from the Internet. And it's a little more interactive than just reading."

For the six-minute piece, which was put online Wednesday, Binns and Crime Prevention Officer Troy Young took turns educating shoppers on checking out merchants, using secure sites and canceling credit cards in the event of a breach.

The shows will be kept to about five minutes, Binns said, and will feature crime-prevention tips and news updates. The shows can be viewed at www.ci .garner.nc.us/police/podcasting.asp. The department has been holding educational sessions with neighborhood groups for years, Binns said, and some of those sessions will soon make it to the Web in the podcasts, too.

The idea came up as a way to expand on the television show Garner police officials have been doing on WARZ (Channel 5 on cable) for the past two years.

"We're reaching an older generation with the show, but we wanted to reach the younger generation as well," Binns said. "Plus, we basically record [the show], and we're done. This gives us an opportunity ... to do something a little more creative."

Next week's show, for example, will continue with the safety theme but will take place in a store parking lot. In the future, those receiving the podcasts will also get a glimpse inside the town's "most wanted" list.

Binns said there has been a lot of positive feedback about the podcast.