Search

December 2020

I was in Waukesha and saw the police and fire department rushing somewhere in the city. I had absolutely no idea where they were going in such a hurry, and then I realized nobody else would know either unless you actively monitor the scanner. I took the resources I could get, and created the @WaukeshaAlerts Twitter account to benefit Waukesha residents and provide transparency, with accurate and timely information every time there is an emergency. 

When I started the account, I had big goals and visions for Waukesha Alerts, but I didn't have too high of hopes and expected the account to die out pretty quickly. Thankfully, that was not the case.

December 24th 2020:

Waukesha Alerts first tweet. A rollover car crash occurred and I immediately tweeted the incident. With no followers to see, I still posted it anyways so if anyone were to come across the account or search on twitter, they would see what happened.

January 2021

In the month of January 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 88,000 tweet impressions and gained 57 new followers. I was very excited to see the follower count growing, even if it was only a little. Seeing that number go up told me I was doing a good job and was providing my new followers and Waukesha residents with accurate information on calls.

January 27th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts made a tweet regarding a drive by shooting report. No address was given, just a street name. Along with minimal details about the incident. Looking back, I wish I had provided more information than just the bare bones back then.

February 2021

In the month of February 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 64,000 tweet impressions and gained 70 new followers. It took two months to pass the 100 follower mark. It was a lot of hard work monitoring the scanner, and tweeting frequently, even if it was just to a small amount of people. I knew I was making a difference so I kept going forward.

February 20th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a stabbing incident near downtown that left one person dead. My goal was to provide awareness and have people avoid the area while police process the scene.

March 2021

In the month of March 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 125,000 tweet impressions and gained 35 new followers. It was around this time I was debating whether or not to keep pursuing the account, as it was a lot of hard work and took a decent amount of free time away from me. But I decided against that for the greater good of the people of Waukesha and my 100 followers at the time.

March 27th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a critical incident on Caroline Street that every unit was responding to. This tweet puzzles me as I didn't say anything about what was happening there, and I see this as a poorly done tweet that didn't provide the transparency I strive for today.

April 2021

In the month of April 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 80,000 tweet impressions and gained 66 new followers. Waukesha Alerts had their profile viewed 3,000 times in a single month. This month was a slightly discouraging one for me, as I continue to work hard and even had my profile viewed thousands of times, but yet only gained 66 followers. However, I continued to push through as I believed in the account and the future of it.

April 18th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a pretty major brush fire happening in Waukesha. I believe some pretty significant mutual aid was requested with this call, but online it didn't reach as many people as I had hoped. I felt as if a lot of people were missing out on valuable information. I know there are definitely people who drove by this and asked themselves or someone else, "What is happening over there?" 

May 2021

In the month of May 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 138,000 tweet impressions and gained 219 new followers. This was my first very successful month operating this account, and begun taking greater pride in it. I was excited that Waukesha Alerts was gaining better traction so I can reach a larger audience to be informed. 

May 12th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a bomb threat occurring at a local high school. Thankfully, it was a false alarm. But, this tweet informed many likely panicked students and parents about what was happening.

June 2021

In the month of June 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 249,000 tweet impressions and gained 237 new followers. Waukesha Alerts profile was also visited over 30,000 times in the month. Once again I viewed this as a successful month as I stayed on track with coverage and followers.

June 29th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted an incident outside of the City of Waukesha involving a major bank robbery. This showcased the wide coverage of Waukesha Alerts when it comes to major incidents outside of the city. The City of Waukesha Police were called to the scene on Oconomowoc, which is why this was posted. This tweet definitely raised awareness to those who received an emergency alert in connection to this, and didn't know what was going on.

July 2021

In the month of July 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 324,000 tweet impressions and gained 156 new followers. This was the month a tornado ripped through Waukesha County, and I posted images of the damage it caused. This was when Waukesha Alerts became more involved in local weather to ensure the safety of everyone, especially those who do not pay attention to the forecast or storms incoming. 

July 29th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted a weather emergency that potentially threatened the lives of tens of thousands of people. I was monitoring the storm well before it reached Waukesha County, and was prepared to sound the alarm when the storm strengthened and a damaging tornado was confirmed heading in the direction of Waukesha. 

August 2021

In the month of August 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 448,000 tweet impressions and gained 248 new followers. Waukesha Alerts profile was also visited over 80,000 times in the month. When I saw these statistics, I was shocked that Waukesha Alerts had nearly half a million impressions on people. This was once again an active month in terms of severe weather. 

August 29th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a disturbance in the community of dozens of trucks doing donuts in the street. Not exactly sure why I did not include a more confined address, as Michigan Avenue is a pretty long street. But a detailed description was given for anybody that checked the account who heard or saw the commotion. 

September 2021

In the month of September 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 307,000 tweet impressions and gained 218 new followers. This was a below average month in terms of the amount of alerts. In a normal month, I post about 200-300 alerts. However, that September I posted less than 200. 

September 25th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted photos from a critical incident. This was the start of more frequent photos from incident scenes. 

October 2021

In the month of October 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 463,000 tweet impressions and gained 340 new followers. This was the most successful month so far in the history of the account. With the profile being visited over 100,000 times. I continued to ensure the account was active and I was monitoring the scanner when I could.

October 27th 2021:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a water main break that was impacting thousands of residents. I noticed my water wasn't running good, but didn't think much of it. I then received a tip in my direct messages from someone telling me about a major water main break. I then reviewed the scanner to validate the tip, and posted it.

November 2021

In the month of November 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 7,500,000 tweet impressions and gained 2,401 new followers. This was the most devastating month both for me and the Waukesha community. This was the month of the Waukesha Parade Attack. As soon as I heard the commotion on the scanner, I was sitting in shock for a couple minutes before I even posted the tweets. I stayed on the air for hours on end reporting real-time information from start to end of that tragic night that claimed the lives of 6 innocent people and injured dozens more. I was the main source of information in the beginning of the incident, when nobody knew what exactly was going on.

November 21st 2021:

December 2021

In the month of December 2021, Waukesha Alerts received 873,000 tweet impressions and gained 216 new followers. This marks the one year anniversary of Waukesha Alerts. With over 2,000 followers, I took greater pride in my account and making sure I am serving the people of Waukesha to the best of my ability.  

December 2nd 2021:

Waukesha Alerts was first to tweet and inform about the imminent structure collapse of the condominiums on N West Avenue that left dozens displaced. I was made aware that this tweet helped people in the area and the families of those directly involved with the condominiums in distributing valuable information.

January 2022

In the month of January 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 582,000 tweet impressions and gained 97 new followers. Not the best start to a new year, and that is partially my fault. I average 200-300 tweets per month and once again tweeted below average. I was feeling a little burnt out this month, but made a quick comeback in the following months. 

January 27th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a major car crash from an off duty police officer crashing into a house. This was a strange yet serious incident. 

February 2022

In the month of February 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 923,000 tweet impressions and gained 397 new followers.  This month I came back from the burnout experienced last month. Otherwise, this was a pretty average month and I continued meeting my goals and the expectations of my followers.

February 20th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a SWAT incident in the City of Waukesha. This incident had the heaviest police presence In Waukesha in quite some time. I provided frequent and accurate updates in the thread for this incident and stayed on top of it.

March 2022

In the month of March 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 772,000 tweet impressions and gained 136 new followers. This month was once again pretty average as the account continued to climb in terms of the amount of people covered. 

March 19th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a major train derailment in Pewaukee. Upon hearing this, I traveled to the incident area and got some photos from the scene and was able to swiftly upload them to Twitter for followers to see first hand what was going on. 

April 2022

In the month of April 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 1,100,000 tweet impressions and gained 459 new followers. This was a very successful month with coverage being given to an even larger audience. From this point to present day, every month has been very successful similar to this month.

April 19th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted a more humorous tweet regarding an incident of uncooked pizza. Because the funny incident had such positive reaction, I continued to tweet any funnier incidents and injected more humor in some incidents that were not sensitive. I keep the account serious the majority of the time, but sometimes we all need a break so a funny tweet or two lightens the mood in an otherwise serious account.

May 2022

In the month of May 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 904,000 tweet impressions and gained 394 new followers. Once again a very successful month in my books. As I gained more followers into the thousands, I set the standards higher than they already were for my personal conduct on the account. I stuck to my goal to provide my followers with the most accurate, unbiased, and transparent information as possible.

May 19th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about an explosion in Eagle the injured multiple people. I was monitoring the scanner when the county fire tones were activated and the City of Waukesha was alerted for mutual aid. I quickly gathered the address and incident information and posted what I knew at that point.

June 2022

In the month of June 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 1,200,000 tweet impressions and gained 428 new followers. This was yet again a successful month. This was also the month the notorious "devil hunter" became known in Waukesha due to my incident tweet. The devil hunter became a running joke with the account until he unfortunately (or fortunately) vanished and no incidents have occurred since.

June 27th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted about a tactical incident on Big Bend Road. I was listening to the scanner traffic for some time, and wasn't able to gather much information about what was going on. I provided all the information I knew at the time to alert my followers of the potential threat area. Turns out it was a high risk warrant that turned into a standoff, which is why only minimal information was available at the time.

July 2022

In the month of July 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 1,800,000 tweet impressions and gained 649 new followers. This was one of my most successful months in the 2022 year. This month donations opened to support Waukesha Alerts as this is a free service account being provided completely voluntarily. Additionally, this month multiple high ranked local news agencies followed the account, and I became integrated within the local news. Waukesha Alerts was also featured on the radio from Elizabeth and Radar on 99.1 The Mix. 

July 25th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted another funny incident that the police got called to. I knew when I heard this incident air, that I had to post it. I even posted the scanner audio in a separate tweet. It was hilarious to see multiple officers responding to the call just to see the pig, and this tweet was well perceived, and something the local news typically would not report on. 

August 2022

In the month of August 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 1,350,000 tweet impressions and gained 359 new followers. This was a pretty active month for Waukesha with multiple larger incidents. Additionally, Waukesha Alerts was followed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. 

August 24th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts tweeted when a police officer sent out a help call for all local units to respond. The officer spotted a suspect that appeared to be wearing a vest walking around with a rifle. Turns out it was a teenager that was screwing around, which wasn't funny whatsoever. 

September 2022

In the month of September 2022, Waukesha Alerts received 1,300,000 tweet impressions and gained 526 new followers. Waukesha Alerts had their profile visited almost 1,000,000 times in the span of 30 days. When I was this, I was once again shocked to see how many people and how far my content is spreading and helping people. I couldn't be happier with how this account has grown thus far. 

September 25th 2022:

Waukesha Alerts had an automated tweet sent out regarding a severe thunderstorm warning entering the area. This automated service provides Waukesha residents with 24/7 coverage of severe weather alerts as an extra source of information.