WTAT Birmingham

WTAT?!! Birmingham, originally Where the roadblocks at?, later an abbreviation for Where They At Tho?!!" is an online community focused on discussion of issues related to police and policing, but often expanding into topics of general interest. It was founded in 2012 on Facebook.com by Johnathan Crum.

The group's reach expanded rapidly in 2015 following the highly-publicized deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice, and Freddie Gray during encounters with police in Ferguson, Missouri; New York City, Chicago; Cleveland, Ohio; and Baltimore, Maryland, respectively. Crum and other administrators for the group emphasize that they support responsible police work. The page includes a "Cop of the Week" feature to highlight such work. Members often alert the group to incidents still developing, with live video streams shared by volunteers. The group also offers prayers and support for victims of crime. Images of the dead are prohibited, as are racial slurs and images of drugs or guns.

The group is open to new members only by approval of administrators. Law enforcement officers are not invited as such, but several have been able to join and participate. By 2018 WTAT Birmingham had more than 77,000 members, making it the largest Birmingham-related online community. An "open" group called "WTAT?!! Topics and Discussion..." was created in late 2017 to reach a wider audience. It grew to more than 22,000 members before it too was made private and a new page, "Birmingham thru the Eyes of WTAT" was started in June 2018 to serve a similar purpose.

Similar groups have been founded on Facebook for several other cities.

References

• Robinson, Carol (March 26, 2018) "Where they at tho? Cop-watching Facebook community now 77,000 strong." The Birmingham News