Twitter Is the Social Media Gun for Spain's Police

With about 680,000 Twitter followers, 70,000 friends on Facebook and more than 4.2 million views of its YouTube videos, meet Spain's unlikely social-media star: the National Police.

Among law enforcement agencies, it has the second most Twitter followers after the FBI, according to Carlos Fernandez Guerra, social-media manager for the Madrid-based police force. It's also the world's most retweeted government institution, averaging 16,000 times a week, he said.

"While the FBI mostly publishes statements, we are more proactive and use social media in a preventive way," he said. "We find Twitter the most useful communication tool to connect with citizens and chase criminals." Read more...