Here’s how Oakland’s social media burglary reporting program works

Oakland's social media burglary report program begins

Here's how to use the new pilot program introduced by Oakland police to report burglaries on social media.

OAKLAND, Calif. - The pilot program to report Oakland car break-ins on social media launched Friday.

With auto burglaries spiking across the city, police hope this new method will help them find those responsible for crimes.

OPD has set up social media accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram called @OaklandAutoBurg where people can send messages about witnessed crimes.

"If you see something suspicious, DM the details of individuals, & vehicles, and the crime's location. DON'T attempt to stop the crime!" the department announced on its new X account.

Details can include descriptions of individuals, vehicles, or license plates, along with the location of the crime.

"If it's safe, snap a pic/video from a distance," the department advises.

That information will then go out to officers in the field.

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This test program is only set to run for a few days so OPD can see how efficient it is in solving crimes.

As of Sunday 11,382 auto burglaries were reported in Oakland so far this year, which is a 36 percent increase over the same period last year, according to OPD.