Between the Cullman Police Department and Cullman County Sheriff’s Office, representatives say the growth of technology and the presence of social media have positively impacted the way investigations are handled.

CPD Inspector Daniel Hunt said when body cameras were first released around five years ago, there was some speculation on whether they would even be beneficial. Fast forward to today, they are now part of the daily uniform protocol because of their advantages in any potential accusations.

“Body cameras allow the story to be told from start to finish once a LEO (law enforcement officer) arrives on scene,” Hunt said. “They can be the deciding factor in issues where he said/she said arise. They always tell the truth, no matter what the parties involve say what happened.”

Hunt said there’s a lot of technology and crime fighting aspects that have been improved in recent years, especially with data sharing capabilities.

“Social media has become one of the fastest ways to get an answer, name with the face, or potential location of a suspect,” Hunt said. “If it’s something minor especially and we need an answer, being able to link information on our social media pages allows us to get more information out without having to utilize the news media.”

Hunt said nearly every law enforcement agency has a computer records systems, body cameras helping with documentation of crime and interactions, as well as, computer software to process security footage.

“Our ability to quickly leverage support from the community with social media is huge,” Hunt said. “The data analysis part- looking at statistics, can be very helpful as well.”

CCSO Communications Director Bradley Williams said the platforms of social media allow the Sheriff’s Office to be quick and transparent with the community about events, needs and situations happening.

“Also using these platforms is a way for us to get tips from the public on many of our ongoing cases as well, which we do and have solved many cases doing this,” Williams said. “We also use Nixle and Crime Stoppers to inform the public and keep residents up to date, and we just launched ‘Nixle Tips’ page on our main webpage which citizens can send in an anonymous tip of any kind; drug, traffic, etc.”

Most have heard of Crime Stoppers and outlets of the same goal, but Williams said when they have a crime that they need to be highlighted to help spread the word and they also pay a cash reward. With a promise of a reward, crimes and investigations are often solved faster.

Check out the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and the Cullman Police Department’s Facebook pages for more information about the happenings in the community.

Editor’s Note: This article appeared first in The Times’ 2019 Profile edition that published in late March.