Oklahoma Highway Patrol Advancing Social Media Outreach

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol used Twitter to break the news about fugitive Michael Vance being caught by troopers.

Here are some of the tweets OHP sent to get the word out about Vance being shot by troopers.

This is one of the first times OHP took to social media to alert everyone about a high-profile incident like Michael Vance.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol uses Facebook daily, and its dispatchers use Twitter to send traffic alerts, but the Vance shooting is one of the first times OHP tweeted about the end of a statewide manhunt.

Trooper Dwight Durant said, "It was essential in letting people in that area be at ease, getting the message out."

Durant is one of the Tweeting troopers launching the new social media campaign. He serves as one of OHP's public information officers.

"We're still looking for followers. Our followers are building every day. It's just getting plugged in, getting familiar with it by using it. Interacting with the public," he said.

The Vance shooting is also the first time OHP used Facebook Live to stream a press conference.

Durant said social media helps get the word out faster to people who need to know about crime and traffic alerts.

Durant said one real-time example is a traffic crash that happened on a state highway in a rural part of the state.

"That's 100 miles away from here. I had that trooper take a couple pictures with the phone, he texted them to me. Instantly I had it up on Twitter. Highway was blocked for four hours," he said.

The social media platforms are also serving as a platform for people to interact with Oklahoma's largest police force.

Durant said, "This thing is going off all the time and we're constantly monitoring it."

Not all troopers are allowed to post to social media yet.

Durant says a social media policy is being made as the program develops.