While many use Facebook as a place to post selfies and air political views, the Dartmouth Police have utilized the social media platform to fight crime, connect with the community and have a little fun in the process.

The page has more than 4,500 followers and has produced a viral hit, an impressive feat considering that Detective Kyle Costa, who manages the profile page, didn’t have prior experience with Facebook when he started the page a year a half ago.

“Navigating social media is a slippery slope at times. There was a learning curve, initially, about how to post, when to post and what to post. But our response has been overwhelmingly supportive,” said Costa, who also works as the department's public information officer.

Rather than using the page simply as a police blotter, Costa keeps the account lively with frequent updates, featuring news from around the country, traffic updates and amusing cop-themed memes.

“We wanted our page to be educational, engaging and entertaining,” he said.

The page has also become known for its rogue’s gallery. The police will often post snapshots taken from surveillance footage of a suspect, asking followers for help identifying the perpetrator. Costa said the majority of such posts have led to good information that has helped catch criminals.

“Once you put it out into social media, there’s no boundaries,” said Costa. “We had some vegetables and money taken from a local vegetable stand in Dartmouth. One of our detectives contacted me, and we put it up on the Facebook page.”

He said, within an hour, the post had been viewed thousands of times and followers were sharing the post on their own accounts. By the end of the day, the person who committed the crime turned themselves in.

Fighting crime, however, doesn’t happen at the speed of the Internet. Costa noted that tips provided by commenters are just the start of a long process.

“The true foundation of police work is getting out into the community, verifying facts, talking to people, confirming the information that you’re getting via Facebook,” he said. “At day’s end, we still have to do good ‘ole fashioned police work. We’re getting information from all angles. It’s like putting a puzzle together.”

And getting out into the community is key for Costa. He said that, while a cop may be able to connect with a dozen residents in a day, the Facebook account allows the department to engage with thousands.

Erika Braga, a Westport resident who follows the Dartmouth police, said it’s given her a way to feel comfortable reaching out to cops with a question.

“With this account, they’re showing a different side of themselves,” said Braga. “As I’ve watched the account progress, I’ve seen different people joining in and not being as skittish to comment. It’s bringing the community together.”

Braga said the Facebook feed offers followers a different view of law enforcement, too, because the page isn’t all business all the time. She cited the Grinch video as an example.

Over the holiday season, members of the police force teamed up with Michael Moniz of DCTV to produce a parody of the TV show “Cops.” In the brief video, Dartmouth Police catch Dr. Seuss’ famed Christmas curmudgeon during an attempted robbery.

Costa said the video was intended to be a lighthearted reminder that police officers would be working just as hard during the holiday season as they would any other time of year. What he didn’t expect was the video to be a viral hit.

Not only did the department’s Facebook followers love it, the video was picked up by CNN, an ABC affiliate in Houston, Texas, and at least one international news outlet.

Dartmouth resident and follower Richard Pontes thinks the police's Facebook page is a good model for law enforcement in other towns. Pontes said he checks the website about two or three times a day.

“Most of the public is in the dark about what goes on in police departments. Most of what they hear is negative,” said Pontes. “These guys are going out of their way to stop the negativity.”

“They’re there for the community, giving them whatever they need and working with them. It takes a lot of time and energy to do that, and they’re doing a spectacular job,” he said.

You can follow the police's page by searching for the Dartmouth Police Department on Facebook and liking the page.