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8B – Daily News – Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Egypt police try to improve image through Facebook CAIRO (MCT) — Social media aren't just for revolutionaries seeking leadership change. The Egyptian police, it seems, want to be friended too. Facebook and other net- working sites were widely used by anti-government activists who drove Egypt- ian President Hosni Mubarak from power this month. Now the sites are helping to propel protesters into the streets in several other Middle Eastern coun- tries. But in Egypt, where law enforcement is often hated and feared, one police offi- cer is hoping Facebook can do for the force's public image what it did for young protesters, one click of the "Like" button at a time. "Of course we saw the success of Facebook in the January 25 movement, so we tried Facebook as well to bring the police together," said Ahmed Ragab, a police major in the Giza area. "The point of the group was to support the spirit of inclu- siveness with the police and people and to return the trust and the brotherhood that was lost after Jan. 25." Last Sunday, the day police in Cairo took to the streets to demand better pay and portray themselves as victims, Ragab launched the Martyrs Demonstration page to honor police offi- cers who died in the demon- strations, announce coming police protests and drive home the message that offi- cers are Egyptians too. When Ragab posted his photo on the page, he chose one showing him in plain- clothes rather than in uni- form. Though police officers are trying other means to the Nile River, restricted to higher-ranking officers only. MCT photo A police officer is hoisted on the shoulders of protesters as they march through Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Feb. 13 reach out _ including marching through Tahrir Square, the heart of the recent uprising, to the shock and sometimes anger of protesters there _ Ragab called the website the most important way to connect with people now. "So for that reason we turned to Facebook to create a solidarity movement and not chaotic protests," Ragab said during an interview at the Police Club, a trying-to- be-ritzy establishment on A Clean, Reliable, Trustworthy, HAVING TROUBLE VOTING ONLINE? Here are some tips so your votes can support your favorite local businesses, and so YOU can get in the running for the FIVE $100 shopping sprees that will be given to FIVE lucky online voters! • Each individual voter needs to enter their own individual email address on the ballot. This is especially important when multiple people are voting on the same computer. 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But distrust of the law runs deep in Egyptian soci- ety, long before clashes with police and government sup- porters left scores of pro- testers dead and Tahrir Square was transformed from a traffic circle to a symbol of resistance. Regu- lar complaints against the police included being shak- en down for bribes and being abused in detainment. Just as the police protests last week borrowed tactics and chants from the anti- government demonstrators, Ragab's Facebook page echoes the demonstrators' efforts to humanize them- selves. The Martyrs Demonstra- tion page has a flier that shows the faces of seven officers said to have been killed during the protests. 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