VSP Launch Official Facebook Page to Further Public Safety Mission
March 2, 2010 | VACP
Investigators Use Facebook to Seek Tips in 14-Year-Old Unsolved Murder
RICHMOND – Some 400 million Facebook users have the opportunity to become a “fan” of the Virginia State Police (VSP). VSP officially launched an official Department Facebook page March 1, 2010, and hopes fans will aid with solving crimes, tracking down fugitives and locating missing persons. The VSP Facebook page also features Department press releases, traffic safety tips, State Police YouTube links, and a calendar of upcoming traffic safety campaigns and enforcement initiatives.
“As social networking sites especially Facebook gain in usage and popularity, incorporating social media into our communications and public outreach efforts is a natural progression for State Police,” said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “Facebook provides us with an immediate communications channel to keep Virginians and social networkers around the world informed of what’s happening in the communities and on the highways of the Commonwealth.” According to a recent Nielsen Company survey, “…global consumers spent more than five and a half hours on social networking sites like Facebook…in December 2009, an 82% increase from the same time last year…With 206.9 million unique visitors, Facebook was the No. 1 global social networking destination in December 2009 and 67% of global social media users visited the site during the month.” Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social, Internet-based networking Website that enables people to connect with one another and various groups via a Facebook profile page. Anyone over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address can become a Facebook user. There is no cost to join Facebook, which is privately owned and operated. Per its policy, Facebook prohibits convicted sex offenders from using its site (http://www.facebook.com/terms.php). The Virginia State Police Facebook page can be viewed by non-Facebook users. To receive updates, one must be a registered Facebook user (http://www.facebook.com). State Police Call on Facebook Fans for Tips on Alicia Showalter Reynolds Case Virginia State Police are using its Facebook page to alert the public to active, unsolved cases, with the hopes that the Facebook-using community can aid with tips and information. The first case to be featured is that of Alicia Showalter Reynolds, the 25-year-old graduate student who was abducted in Culpeper County 14 years ago today (March 2, 1996). Her body was found two months later on May 7, 1996 in the Lignum community of Culpeper County. To date, the VSP Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Culpeper Field Office has received over 10,000 calls concerning this case and has conducted follow-up investigations on thousands of individuals. No one individual(s) has been named a suspect in the case by VSP. Anyone with information pertaining to the abduction and murder of Ms. Reynolds is encouraged to contact VSP toll-free in Virginia at 1-800-572-2260 or 1-888-300-0156 or by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). More detail on the case is available on the VSP Facebook page.
