PHOENIX – Police, sheriffs and public safety agencies increasingly use social media to communicate with the public and news media. New programs, apps and technologies are popping up everywhere. Many departments feel like social media is a game of whack-a-mole for police.

Everyday police executives, supervisors, public information officers (PIO) and social media officers are inundated with Facebook and Twitter posts, blogs, comments, photos and videos. Most of the time, little or no action is required but other times a simple comment, photo or short video will lead hours of work in response.

Albuquerque Police learned recently how a few words on Facebook can become a national story. An officer involved in an on-duty shooting became the story when a reporter discovered the officer's Facebook profile listed his occupation as "human waste disposal."

If you don’t feel prepared for that eventuality, here’s a name to write down: Chris Ryan. Mr. Ryan provides real-time police media relations and crisis management services to law enforcement agencies worldwide. It’s a specialty and rare in the world of public relations consulting.

Let’s face it—we live in an age of cell phone videos and hidden cameras. Every action a police officer performs on or off-duty can potentially be recorded, misinterpreted and posted on YouTube before anyone knows what happened. The response your department makes to the resulting media scrutiny will shape public impression for years. So don’t gamble with your agency’s public image; get the help you need to manage the situation.

An example of such forward thinking is the “VIPER” (Visibility, Intelligence, Partnerships, Education and Resources) project of the Boca Raton Police Department.  Through social media they have enhanced communication within their community by not only educating them with safety and crime prevention tips, but informing them with traffic and local crime reports.  A tweeting police department is truly engaged with the people they protect.

Police are using social media, like Facebook, to inform and provide a forum for open discussion and two communications.  Through applications like “Nixle”, Boca Raton send targeted alerts and advisories direct to residents via short messages services (SMS) over mobile phones. Chief Dan Alexander’s Twitter account is busy and on a regular basis blogs to his residents.

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“It’s important to handle the situation directly, quickly and effectively without becoming defensive or argumentative,” says Police Media Relations expert Chris Ryan. “Burying your head in the sand only works for ostridges,” he added.

London Metropolitan Police learned this lesson the hard way in 2005. Their lack of adequate response to the tragic police chase of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes caused international outrage and disdain.

Mr. de Menezes came out of a block of flats with a communal entrance that police had been watching. He was mistaken for London Bomber, Hussain Osman and pursued by officers into the Stockwell tube station. After running onto a train, Jean was shot dead by police in front of shocked passengers. Reports conducted by the police and news media contradicted each other. After a lengthy trial none of the officers were charged; though pressure was put on Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, to resign.

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Emerging technologies such as social networking websites, blogs and podcasts aid law enforcement agencies and their officers in communicating and marketing their services and activities to communities that they serve. New forms of social media can also be used to educate young people and the general public in efforts to fight and prevent crime.
 

Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites are marketed and used by all age groups, but a large percentage are in the coveted 16-25 year old age bracket. This group is traditionally the hardest for law enforcement officials to communicate and establish relationships with. 

 
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