Local News

If, like me, you grew up on “Dragnet” and graduated to “Hill Street Blues,” the new face of crime-fighting in Pasco County isn’t what you’d expect.

But, if you came of age following the exploits of the “CSI” franchises, in which sharp and attractive young people foil bad actors by tapping on keyboards, then it’s exactly what you’d expect.

Either way, it’s high time anyone concerned about law and order in our region met Ashlyn Reese, 23, and Chase Daniels, 28, two intrepid nerds whose combined age matches, precisely and exquisitely, that of Jeff Harrington, Sheriff Chris Nocco’s second-in-command.

We mention Harrington, 51, a no-nonsense cop in the mold of TV’s legendary Sgt. Joe Friday, because of his assessment of what the fresh-faced, wide-eyed Reese and Daniels mean to the agency.

Says Harrington, “They help us cast a wider net.”

You might not get this at first glance. As the agency’s social media coordinator, Reese, brought aboard in September only months out the University of Florida — Nocco has fondness for Gators, as we shall see — spends much of her time posting cute pictures and videos to the sheriff’s Twitter feed (@PascoSheriff) and Facebook (Pasco Sheriff’s Office) page. There is a method to her charm.

And, Daniels — whose avocation is knowing UF athletics as well as any of the university’s paid media staff — shoulders, as Nocco’s assistant executive director, the task of maximizing community outreach.

Together, however, they combine, in ways both subtle and overt, to expand Pasco residents’ awareness of — and involvement in — local policing. This soft-touch pair helps put a toothy chomp on Pasco County crime.

“The easiest method of getting information out to the public is through social media,” Nocco says.

The sheriff’s social media accounts are not new. But, until last summer, all three — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — suffered from being over-institutionalized. Nearly all of the posts, mostly grim, were official business: suspects sought, road closings, sinkhole alerts. Not that such alerts aren’t important, but they suffered from an old social media complaint: Who wants to follow streams of relentlessly bad news?

Last summer, Nocco ordered up a fresh and amped-up approach. His staff not only would post far more frequently, the subject matter would be spiced with upbeat chatter, happy pictures of dogs and horses — because who doesn’t like dogs and horses, of which the sheriff has plenty. The posts also would offer light commentary on items and entities of community interest.

Suddenly, the sheriff’s social media teemed with mentions of the Buccaneers, Rays, Lightning and the USF Bulls; celebrated the morning’s first cup of coffee; wished followers a good night’s sleep; and celebrated the region in every season — to name only a few items you’d never see on the standard police blotter.

You can’t argue with success. Twitter followers have more than doubled, to more than 25,000. The sheriff’s Facebook page is up to nearly 81,000 fans. Combined, the sites get about 100,000 views daily. “That’s what we used to get in a month,” Daniels says.

And, there’s growth: Each adds between 100 and 150 new followers daily.

It would be one thing if all this were simply about putting a happy face on the agency’s activities (and there’s no arguing about the smile potential of a German shepherd in a hat). But, as spokesman Kevin Doll notes, if you snare your audience with cute pictures and giggle-inducing gifs, they’re still around for notices about missing persons, road closures and suspects sought.

There’s seriousness, too, in the lock-your-doors hashtag campaign: Every night at 9, followers get a reminder about making sure their doors — house, garage, vehicles — are secure.

This is no small thing. A significant portion of property crime results from easy opportunity, Nocco says.

“You see surveillance video of cars driving down a street, teenagers hopping out and trying the doors of cars as they pass. If they’re locked, they keep moving. They don’t want to spend a lot of time or make a lot of noise getting in.”

Where’s this going? Just here: An informed public is a more secure public. And, the larger audience, the more likely important knowledge is going to be spread through sharing and retweeting.

“Eighty-thousand Facebook followers becomes 200,000, even 400,000 shares,” Doll says. And, that sort of citizen-dissemination has led to assorted arrests, among them a suspected bank robber and a suspected burglar, both of whom were fingered by civilians when surveillance video was posted on the sheriff’s online sites.

The only downside: users who think tweeting is a substitute for dialing 9-1-1. It’s not. Got that? In an emergency, do not tweet or post to Facebook. There are trained dispatchers waiting for your call, but they are not monitoring the sheriff’s social media. OK.

Come for the adorable dogs in hats. Stay for the bad-actor bulletins and the body-cam video. This, say Nocco and Daniels, is the future of law enforcement, and — just the facts — it’s helping the good guys sleep better.

Tom Jackson, a resident of New Tampa, is interested in your ideas. To reach him, email .

Published January 25, 2017