First the commissioner was on Facebook. Then he was off. Then his department was on. Now, the agency is also on YouTube.

Go onto the Baltimore Police Department's Facebook page, which was launched over the weekend, and you'll see a link to videos.

No, you won't find the YouTube video of the Baltimore cop berating the young Inner Harbor skateboarder (which still comes up first in Google when you type in Baltimore police and YouTube). You will find a 4 minute and 25 second piece on the Obama visit, a plug to "join the fight against crime" and old videos that include an interview with a cop and the "Keep Talking" video done by the department to counter the "Stop Snitching" video produced by drug dealers to persuade people to not cooperate with law enforcement.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the Baltimore County Police Department also has a YouTube site -- they have videos of the chief spokesman, Bill Toohey, interviewing officers about cases and with crime prevention tips.

Baltimore Police Department's spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, told me the YouTube site was just produced and announced on, of course, Facebook. The spokesman also used that venue to put up two news tips. One is another padlock hearing for a bar, Club 410, in Northeast Baltimore:

BALTIMORE, MD / March 3, 2009 – The Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) has requested that the owners of Club 410 (4500 Belair Rd) appear at a public nuisance hearing to address repeated crimes of violence at the location. A formal notice was delivered to management and property agents on Tuesday afternoon. Over the past several months, police have evaluated calls for service and arrest information and have determined that activity at the establishment poses a considerable threat to public safety.

The hearing notice to management outlines five significant incidents involving storage of illegal firearms, shootings, assaults and sale of narcotics that have taken place since August of 2008. Over the past eight weeks alone, police have responded to seven significant calls for service ranging from aggravated assaults to liquor board violations. Additionally, Police have also seized several firearms from the location. The hearing will take place at Baltimore Police Headquarters on Monday March 16th at 1pm.

Under city code, the Police Department has the authority to order the closure of all or a portion of the business if it is found to meet the definition of a public nuisance.

Police have already successfully padlocked a liquor store, Linden Lounge, on West North Avenue; a hearing to padlock a motel on Pulakski Highway, the Executive Inn, was postponed to give the owners a chance to address the concerns.

Here's the other release on some arrests in Canton:

The February arrest of Robert Edward Eubank by southeast district officers will help police clear additional burglary cases in the Canton area. Eubank was arrested on February 13th when officers responded to a burglary call at 3929 Hudson St. in southeast section of the city. Unmarked units located Eubanks in the 3800 block of Foster Ave and the victim was able to positively identify him as the suspect. Eubank was arrested and taken into custody. Property recovered will result in further charges and additional burglary clearances in the area.

Good news for Canton residents, and it comes just days after Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld addressed the issue of break-ins in Canton on the Ed Norris show, after a woman called to complain that the cops had cleaned up Patterson Park but pushed drug dealers and other criminals south into Canton.

I had mentioned earlier that the first attempt at Facebook was a page for the commissioner. But Bealefeld wanted the page to reflect the department, not himself, and instead went with an organizational site. I noted that when it was personal, Bealefeld had added his own comment to a news release about an arrest in a home invasion robbery.

That was taken down on the more formal site, but I noticed today it was back up: "Outstanding job to Eastern District Charlie Shift!"

Now the commissioner is getting into the Facebook spirit.