STOCKTON, California — For nearly two years, the Stockton Police Department has used a campaign called "Who's That Wednesday?" to post wanted suspects online. On Thursday, it paid off.
22-year-old Nau Gonzalez turned himself in to police in connection to a March 5 sexual battery involving a minor at a local pet store. Police say Gonzalez did so after seeing himself posted their on social media.
It was the first time a suspect pictured on the police department's "Who's That Wednesday" Facebook page gave himself up to police.
"That case garnered, gosh, almost 300 shares. It was a very good photograph," said Stockton Police Department spokesperson Rosie Calderon.
"It's very touchy to a lot of people, so any time we have a suspect out there who has committed a crime like this, the public feels like (is there) anything they can do to help."
The department said their so-called "Who's that Wednesday?" social media campaign is not modeled after any other department. They just wanted a catchy phrase as a way to grab the public's attention.
As many as six posts can go up in a day, but sometimes there are none. The 'Who's That Wednesday?' posts are random. It happens whenever detectives with unsolved cases give information to the public information officers to post online.
Calderon said she didn't have the numbers on just how many of the Wednesday posts have led to arrests.
She said there's been cases regarding catalytic converter thefts and one where a parrot was stolen from a Stockton pet store. That one garnered a lot of attention and the bird was ultimately returned.
Bottom line, while the Wednesday posts are popular with the public, no one wants to be the featured post that goes viral.
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