Law Enforcement Technology

MAY 2014

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9 www.officer.com May 2014 Law Enforcement Technology COMMAND & COMMUNICATIONS Facebook can be used to spread information quickly, asking for the com- munity's help or reminding them about ongoing investigations or community programs. One post can spread around the community and the world imme- diately, depending on the range of a department's network. For some depart- ments, Facebook has removed the need to e-mail, fax and call media outlets to promote a story or spread news. "Things have changed dramati- cally with the advent of the Internet and social media," says Montgomery County PD's Bauer. "With social media, the department can communicate directly with the general public and not just rely on the news media to get information out. It also allows PIOs to get direct community feedback to infor- mation posted and directly respond to clear up any misconceptions that have arisen on the part of the public. The opportunity to tweet out information and post on Facebook also allows our community members direct access to information without it being filtered by the media. The public can watch an entire press conference on YouTube rather than just seeing a sound bite from it on a TV newscast. "Because social media provides the ability to get out information immedi- ately, it also creates an expectation of a more immediate release of information," she adds. "Print, radio and TV outlets all have websites and their goals are all to get as much information as possible as soon as possible. TV stations don't need to wait for a scheduled newscast and newspapers don't need to wait for a print deadline. The pressure is on and there is a very real need to always weigh the speed of release of information ver- sus holding back and having the time to make all the necessary contacts to confirm accuracy. But, providing infor- mation through tweeting also saves time in getting information out to everyone (public and media) and keeping every- one up-to-date with new developments." Social media also allows departments to have direct relationships with their "publics," without the media as a filter. "We've embraced the power of social media," says NIOA's Warner. "Doing so has allowed us to break our own news- -getting timely, accurate, unedited infor- mation directly to the public we serve. People no longer have to wait for a story to post or to see it on the evening news. While those avenues of information remain extremely valuable and relevant, our responsibility to get it right should always outweigh any desire for tradi- tional media to tell it fast or first. Social media, when used responsibly, allows for both." The most forward thinking depart- ments are active on social every day. "We began in 2007 with YouTube and MySpace, and then Facebook in 2008 and Twitter in 2009," Slater says. "We use it every day to humanize our offi- cers, talk to our community, educate them and give them access to their police department like never before. We use Twitter to take the community on virtual ride-alongs using the hashtag #ridewithbbpd; We live stream our press conferences on ustream.tv; We post numerous times throughout the day on Facebook--everything from pho- tographs of our Officers of the Month to surveillance photos of suspects we are trying to identify and a daily brief- ing of crimes going on citywide. The response from the community has been overwhelming, and the number of peo- ple who engage with us daily continues to grow rapidly." Communicating your message Despite the use of social media, it is still important to work with news agen- cies to disseminate accurate and timely information. Every time your depart- ment is contacted is an opportunity to get positive information out about the services you provide, the successes you have had, and to develop a relationship. "Every effort is made to establish and maintain a cooperative relation- ship in which the news media may freely obtain information, unless such information is legally privileged or would violate the constitutional right of an accused individual, or is otherwise specifically prohibited due to a nega- tive effect on an investigation," says Award ceremonies give departments an opportunity to spread the word about positive events. For some departments, Facebook has removed the need to e-mail, fax and call media outlets to promote a story or spread news. LET_07-11_Media0514.indd 9 4/18/14 3:29 PM

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