Police offer 'virtual ridealongs' via Twitter

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Riding side by side as a police officer answers a call for help or investigates a brutal crime during a ridealong gives citizens an up close look at the gritty and sometimes dangerous situations officers can experience on the job.

But a new social media approach to informing the public about what officers do is taking hold at police departments across the United States and Canada -- one that is far less dangerous for citizens but, police say, just as informative.