Ossining Police Department Chief Kevin Sylvester celebrated with the rest of the department this week about how many personal and friendly connections officers have been able to make, thanks to social media.

 The department posted this week that they now have more than 10,000 followers on Facebook,  what some may consider a large number for a village their size.

"Social media has given us an opportunity to not only share with the community what's going on, but we've been able to let them know who the police officers that work here are,” says Sylvester.

 In addition to posting announcements and advisories for village residents, Chief Sylvester says they want to give everyone a look behind the scenes, including what officers are doing in the community, what awards they have won for their services – and interviews they are having with News 12.

Nearly every post has a touch of humor, reminding followers that officers are everyday people just like them.

"It allows us to share sometimes difficult information in a easily digestible format. If we can tell you that something bad happened and allow you to chuckle at it for a minute, what people will really end up walking away and doing is saying, ‘Hey, the Ossining Police Department has that under control.’ That is so important for our mission,” says Sylvester.