Cape police to offer 'tweet-along' online

The Cape Girardeau Police Department is offering a virtual ride-along from noon to 4 p.m. today on Twitter.

Users of the popular social networking site can look up the hashtag #CGPDtweetalong or follow the department at @CapePolice to see pictures and updates from an officer on the street, Darin Hickey, public information officer for the department, said in an email message Thursday.

Hickey said the "tweet-along" is designed to educate the public about what officers do and what they encounter on a day-to-day basis.

The department will not answer direct questions about the calls to which the officer responds, Hickey said.

People who don't have a Twitter account may visit twitter.com/capepolice to read the officers' tweets.