The Social Media Beat

Last week I met with the Public Information Officer (PIO) for a police agency who has been tasked with a new role for his agency. He has now added, "Social Media Manager" to his portfolio. He asked two very important questions. 1.) What can we do with social media? 2.) How do we do social media effectively? Before answering his questions, I had a question of my own. "What is the goal of your agency using social media?" He stared blankly at me for a few seconds before telling me that he had no idea. He has been told to enter the social media space, he has been given a decent budget to work with and has been given the green light make their entry immediately. The only thing he hasn't been provided is a reason to do it. The powers that be for his agency gave him the broad-stroke reasoning that we hear so often. - That's what everyone else is doing - We need to inject our voice - It increases the availability of communication with our citizens Those are all valid and truly great reasons, but ...

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This is a question asked often by police chiefs, administrators, PIOs, and others who are charged with the task of either posting information or monitoring the content posted. In addition, many have concerns about liability related to the content posted. Although this question seems somewhat difficult, the answer is quite simple if you follow these six rules. 1. Your agency should have a policy or develop written guidelines to address this important issue. It is difficult to cover everything in a policy. However, you should have general statements and sample content so those staff members posting information have a guide. This is an important consideration for your staff as well as the department. 2. Never post any information that is considered confidential or that has evidentiary value. You should steer clear of posting photos of any type that are taken as part of an investigation which will potentially be used as evidence. Examples include crime scene photos, fatality accident investigations, and s ...

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There are so many ways to communicate right now via social media that it is mind boggling. One site that has been around for a while could prove to be a useful tool for law enforcement. It’s called www.ustream.tv. This is a site that allows you to broadcast video over the internet for free and you can do it right from your smart phone. The free version has small banner ads. If you prefer not to have them then you can pay a monthly fee to have a clean screen. How is this useful to law enforcement? It allows you to broadcast press conferences instantly from a scene or wherever you are via the Ustream app. Set up an account online and then you can broadcast via your smart phone anywhere. Not only can you broadcast live, but with the click of one button you can send a tweet out to your followers that you are now streaming video live. There are many scenarios where this can come in handy. Maybe a catastrophic storm just came through your area. A tornado or hurricane and you need to get instant informa ...

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Ever wonder what's the best time to post certain items to your Facebook or Twitter pages so that the most people see them? A recent study has come up with some suggestions based on the metrics of several social networking sites. Though I think the real answer depends largely on your community or audience, the survey says it also depends on the individual social networking medium itself. A few interesting facts from their research: *The half-life of a Twitter link or tweet is 2.8 hours. That means if you're promoting an upcoming event or trying to inform citizens about an ongoing traffic hazard, you'll need to tweet a few times to reach as many people as possible. *The peak time for Facebook posting is between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. And, like Twitter, the researchers say, don't bother posting after 8 p.m. or on the weekends. While this helpful to know when you're trying to post information that you really want viewed, I think you can also post information during non-peak ...

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How many agencies have started to look at social media use for their organization and have been stumped by one simple challenge - comments from the public? There have been many cases of agencies starting social media accounts that reversed their entry and others that are stalling on their choice to enter because of the perceived and real problems in knowing how to deal with comments from the public. The other consideration that also plays into this spectrum is returning comments from the organization. This can also be a hindrance if you don't have some clear guidelines. So in essence there are two problems here. 1. Commenting from the public 2. Commenting to the public Let's look at the latter first. Any choice to enter social media in a robust and vibrant way should erase concerns of commenting to the public in response to questions and or comments. You see, if you enter social media to only broadcast your information you are going to miss the most important and effective part of the space... s ...

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With National Police Week approaching, it seems like an appropriate time to reflect on officer safety. This year, 362 names are being added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Dedicated in 1991, the Memorial honors more than 19,000 officers who have been killed in the line of duty. The IACP offers many officer safety resources through our National Center for the Prevention of Violence Against the Police, a partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. We also offer several other officer safety programs. As with any new technology, social media adds a new component to officer safety considerations. More and more frequently, chiefs and sheriffs tell us their stories about instances where social media has compromised police operations, criminal investigations, officer safety, and family notifications of officers killed or injured in the line of duty. The Center offers a Facebook Safety for Law Enforcement fact sheet, a Facebook Privacy Settings Checklist, a ...

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Today's guest blog post comes from Sarah Boyd, public relations specialist with the Kansas City, Missouri Police, Department. In her five years with the department, she has implemented and managed most of KCPD's social media accounts and strategy. She previously worked as a newspaper reporter covering crime, courts, and schools. She can be contacted at sarah.boyd@kcpd.org or 816-889-6133. In early 2012, I heard more and more of my friends talking about Pinterest. I didn't use it personally, and I didn't think it was a viable platform for a law enforcement agency. The U.S. Army changed my mind. I saw how they were using Pinterest to tell their story and target an audience they otherwise may have missed, and I believed it was something Kansas City Police could do, too. It also was becoming too big to ignore. Pinterest now is the 16th most popular Web site in the United States, according to AppAppeal.com. Law enforcement, like the military, is majority male. Combined with their duties enforcing laws, ...

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Recently, an Idaho State agency chose to shut down its Facebook page. Managers said the page was taking too much time and employee resources. The problem wasn't too many issues - just one. The agency found its Facebook page had become a venting opportunity for citizens with strong opinions about an ongoing, emotional and controversial topic, and it overwhelmed the agency's ability to manage the page. An Idaho state legislator also ran into something similar when he introduced a controversial bill that attracted national news attention, prompting activists from around the world to inundate his page with a huge number of mainly negative comments. So what if an agency's Facebook page gets overwhelmed by hundreds or thousands of comments, passionate over a single issue? The topic was brought up recently among those of us who manage Facebook pages here in the City of Boise. One of my city colleagues had met a PIO at a recent training conference who had faced the situation and managed it without deactivat ...

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