Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites offer an excellent way for law enforcement officers to stay in touch with the public. By using these sites, officers can make sure they are up-to-date on changes in the community, keep in touch with friends and family, and connect with potential witnesses. Additionally, social media can be used to build relationships with citizens. This can help officers get a better understanding of the living conditions inside the community and identify any possible suspects.
Benefits Of Social Media For Law Enforcement
Amid the current national discourse about the proper use of police force, social media has become a powerful tool for law enforcement agencies. Texts, posts and tweets offer direct ways to engage with communities by sharing critical updates and receiving candid feedback about local concerns.
Report showS that the use of social media by police has many different benefits and highlighted those benefits through real-world examples. It also outlines nine areas where social media can be used by law enforcement to improve operations, with brief examples and analysis of each. The nine areas are:
- As a Source of Criminal Information
- As a Voice in Social Media
- To Push Information
- To Leverage the Wisdom of the Crowd
- To Interact with the Public
- For Community Policing
- To Show the Human Side of Policing
- To Support Police IT Infrastructure
- For Efficient Policing
Despite its name, the report is not intended to be a step-by-step guide outlining best practices, researchers wrote; it is to “present the variety in best practice applied by different forces in different countries,” the report states. “Our report thus functions as a crayon box, a modular toolset, that allows other police forces, researchers and industry to look for solutions that fit their particular needs best.”
Disadvantages Of Police Using Social Media
With more than 1 million law enforcement officers taking to the streets every day, these incidents still appear to be rare, as many officers are aware of the pitfalls of social media. But law enforcement is grappling with is a generational shift — with newer officers preferring to use social media and cyber platforms for communication, rather than a phone or the pen.
With that, the law enforcement community finds itself stuck in a rather untenable position of trying to balance an officer’s right to free speech versus a department’s right to regulate conduct.
First, in order to have a social media account — a real one — a law enforcement officer has to disclose certain personal information such as his or her name, email address and location. While there are security settings on social media platforms, they are often complicated and intensive to navigate, which is intentional.
Social media is meant to be “social” and an individual trying to keep their activity private cuts against the reason for the platform.
Creating a basic social media account potentially allows any individual who wants to target that officer or their family to get free information, as 1,600 agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement discovered. The Nebraska branch of the anti-fascist group antifa reportedly posted all of their personal information in one location.
Second, fake accounts and contacts are rampant in social media. That could potentially place law enforcement officers in direct contact with a criminal, convict, terrorist or worse. Additionally, these individuals can take a law enforcement officer’s posts, especially pictures, edit them and try to make them look compromised. Why run that risk?
Third, many departments have adopted social media policies that try to limit or inhibit an officer’s use of social media, such as Baltimore’s,which recognizes “every member’s Constitutional right to freedom of speech,” but regulates things such as publishing photos depicting officers in uniform without express consent.
This is done in order to protect the department and officer. Social media posts are often brief and context can get lost. Officers who post, especially those who post often, run the risk of having a post misinterpreted or viewed out of context.
Fourth, social media is filled with many people who seek self-aggrandizement, drama or excitement in their lives and have a platform to achieve it at their fingertips. It is also trolled by individuals looking to make law enforcement officers look bad. This places law enforcement officers in the precarious position of interacting with an unknown individual who might be looking to bait, trap or ruin an officer’s career.
Finally, in order to get into law enforcement these days, a number of departments require divulging of social media accounts and passwords so they can check the accounts of prospective officers. The end result has been an increased difficulty in hiring officers due to issues cited on their social media accounts. Departments can’t run the risk of hiring someone who could be discredited on the witness stand or won’t pass a background check due to their social media activity.
How Social Media Can Help Law enforcement Officers Keep In Touch With the Public.
Social media can be a great way for law enforcement officers to stay in touch with the public. It provides a wide variety of platforms on which they can share information and connect with citizens. By using social media, officers can provide updates on crime prevention and criminal justice events, offer tips on how to stay safe online, and connect with other law enforcement professionals.
How Can Social Media Help Law Enforcement Officers Stay In Touch With the Public
The benefits of using social media to stay in touch with the public include:
– increased communication between officers and the public
– decreased staff time spent on tasks that are not related to crimefighting
– access to up-to-date intelligence from the community
– the ability to share ideas and solutions to problems with a wider audience
– the ability to build relationships with citizens that can be invaluable in the future
What Are The Benefits Of Social Media Use?
1. Build relationships.
Social media is not just about brands connecting with their customers. In fact, at its root, social media is about connecting people to people. If you’ve attended a Social Shift training session I’ve led, chances are you’ve heard that almost every single friend I have in San Francisco, I met through social media.
From a professional perspective, you can grow your professional network online tremendously by connecting with colleagues, mentors, role models and other professionals. If you nurture those relationships, you have a whole new network to tap when you’re looking for opportunities or professional guidance.
2. You can create organic content
The ability to post organic content for free is an incredible benefit of social media for business. This opens many opportunities for your company to connect with valuable leads at no cost. It’s one of the reasons why companies love using these platforms.
You can post as much content as you want to engage your audience too.
These platforms enable you to post photos, videos, and more, depending upon the social media network. It’s a great way to put your brand out in front of people interested in your business and help them get more familiar with it.
3. Share your expertise.
Social media gives you an opportunity to talk about what you know and what you want to be known for. Sharing your expertise will attract potential professional and personal connections. Learn how to present your professional experience, achievements and results and you will get more and more opportunities to connect with like-minded people.
If you share content on topics that you know much about, you can begin to build credibility. This doesn’t only go for your online presence. If you live your personal brand and your actions reflect your online presence, it validates that you can be trusted and those relationships you are building will be that much more authentic and valuable.
4. You can create viral content
Perhaps the most unique advantage of social media is the ability to get help from your followers. People love to share things with their networks, from photos and recipes to interesting articles and hot deals.
Unlike other forms of Internet marketing, like your site and paid advertisements, content on social media is often shared. However wide your reach, your followers can share with their followers, who then share with their followers, giving you a wider reach (with lower cost) than a traditional marketing campaign.
5. Increase your visibility.
If you spend time honing in on your expertise, consistently managing your social channels, then you have the potential to greatly increase your visibility and even become a thought-leader in your space. Good content gets shared, so if you are consistently posting quality content, the more people who share it, the more people see it.
It’s not just about pushing content, however. You also need to be engaging with other people’s content. Following people and interacting with them on social media will work to build relationships (we keep coming back to this one!) and will help to get your name out there for people to turn to.
How to Use Social Media to Keep In Touch With the Public.
One way social media can help law enforcement officers keep in touch with the public is by sharing information and providing support. For example, law enforcement can use social media to share crime statistics, provide tips on how to avoid crime, or provide information about missing persons.
How to Use Social Media to Share Information with the Public
Law enforcement can also use social media to share information about investigations and safety threats. They can also use social media to share news updates, tips for avoiding traffic accidents, or provide information about court proceedings.
How to Use Social Media to Train the Public
In addition, law enforcement can use social media to train the public on how to behave in various settings, such as at a protest or during a trial. They can also use social media to teach kids about responsible behavior and safe travel habits.
How to Use Social Media to Serve the Public
Many times,law enforcement officers need help getting information out to the public. In this case, they may need to create a Twitter account and post requests for information or pictures from different incidents or events that are happening in order generate buzz around the web or in real life.
Tips for Use of Social Media in Law Enforcement.
When using social media to disseminate information about law enforcement, it is important to get the most out of the platform. Use social media to share tips, news, and ideas with the public in an effort to improve communication and coordination between law enforcement and the community. Additionally, use social media to promote law enforcement activities by sharing photos or videos of officers in action.
Use Social Media to Share Tips, News, and Ideas with the Public
By sharing information on a wide range of topics on social media, law enforcement can engage with a wider audience and learn from potential allies. In addition, by sharing ideas and thoughts on crime and policing, you can help make people aware of some of the challenges that police face on a daily basis.
Use Social Media to Promote Law Enforcement Activities
Use social media as an opportunity to promote law enforcement activity by posting photos or videos of events or operations that are being conducted by law enforcement. This can include demonstrations, raids, or arrests. You also have the ability to share stories about how law enforcement has helped reduce crime in your area.
Use Social Media to Combat Crime
When using social media as part of your overall strategy for preventing crime, it is important not only to share information aboutlaw enforcement efforts but alsoto combat criminal behavior at its source- through training officers and providing resources like special technology or equipment. You can also host forums or webinars to help officers share their experiences and learn from other law enforcement officials.
Conclusion
Social Media can be a great way to keep in touch with the public. However, it’s important to use social media wisely, as some tips and techniques can help law enforcement officers connect with the public and serve the public. Additionally, using social media to share information and tips, promote law enforcement activities, and combat crime can be very helpful. By following these tips, you can ensure that your community is kept safe and informed.