Print edition: 
Wichita police credit Facebook posts for major breaks in two cases Wednesday.
Images of people connected to each case were posted to the department’s Facebook page and prompted numerous responses, Lt. Mike Hennessy said.
One was a woman’s photo that had been taken and stored on an iPhone stolen along with a woman’s purse a couple of weeks ago. The other was a surveillance image of two women suspected of stealing a car at the South YMCA, 3405 S. Meridian.
Police now have the names of the two women suspected in the auto theft and are looking for them, Hennessy said.
Investigators have also spoken with the woman whose photo was on the iPhone and determined she was not the thief. She bought it from someone on the street, he said, and there’s no indication she realized it was stolen.
Police are hoping information she gave them will lead to the thief. The owners of the iPhone contacted their service provider, who was able to retrieve information from the phone — including the woman’s photo, which she had taken and stored on the phone after buying it.
“It’s like Crime Stoppers,” Hennessy said of the department’s Facebook page. “We get tips” and then follow up on them.
“It’s been very effective,” he said. “I think you’re going to see us use that quite a bit.”
The department’s Facebook page added more than 100 “likes” in one day alone earlier this week, and has more than 6,000 likes. Nationwide, only Omaha has more “likes” among police departments similar in size to Wichita, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Facebook users have the option of “liking” pages. Over the past eight days, Wichita has added 292 “likes,” compared to Omaha’s 37.
“We don’t know exactly what’s going on, but we like it,” Lt. Doug Nolte said. “We appreciate it.”
Wichita also has the third most followers on Twitter, Nolte said.
Police officials are recognizing that social media is a way to reach people they otherwise might miss, Hennessy said.
