Palo Alto Police are taking the public on a virtual ride-along today, via Twitter.

While Police Chief Dennis Burns patrols the streets, a public information officer is live-tweeting whatever comes up on Burns' shift  -- such as calls for service, or crimes in progress.  

Lieutenant Zach Perron said  the department did its first virtual ride-along last fall.

"It was incredibly successful," Perron said. "We gained hundreds of new followers to our Twitter accounts.  We had people following us from all across the United States. We got tons of two-way interaction with people asking questions about law enforcement.

Today's virtual ride-along goes until 2 in the morning. Perron says one goal is to give people an insight into the realities of policing -- and to include social media as another way for the department get information and alerts out to the public.