Sharing police activities on social networks

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Tim Burrows

On a regular basis pop open your Twitter or Facebook stream and you’ll probably see in one form or another, a post detailing the location of police performing speed enforcement, intersection monitoring, investigation locations, etc.

When it comes to those, I’m all for the public awareness they bring.  Hey, if drivers believe that speeding tickets are being handed out a location and in turn they slow down before getting there…it’s all good.

The one I can’t stand seeing is RIDE / DUI location check stops.  There was a lot of action about this during the Christmas holidays from both sides of the argument for and against the social sharing of locations.

Here is a great article about it from LawTimes.com Written by Kenneth Jackson. Click the link, or just read below where I have re-posted it.

Tweeting the location of a police RIDE check for drunk drivers could land someone in prison, says a Toronto criminal defence lawyer.

“In fact, it can be prosecuted by indictment and you can go to a penitentiary.”“You can go to jail,” says Paul Burstein of tweets about the locations of the police checks.

‘You can go to jail,’ says Paul Burstein of the RIDE tweets.

Doing so could prompt a charge of attempted obstruction of justice, according to Burstein, who was reacting to recent concerns by Toronto police about the phenomenon of tweeting RIDE locations.

Basically, police and prosecutors would have to prove someone was in fact the person tweeting the RIDE check with the intention to warn drunk drivers, says Burstein. “Assuming they could link it to a person, yeah, I would say that established probable grounds for attempt to obstruct justice.”

That’s a potentially scary proposition considering that all someone did was type a few words into their smartphone’s Twitter application.

But it’s more than that, says Toronto police Sgt. Tim Burrows. According to Burrows, people may be helping drunk drivers avoid justice that could ultimately lead to them killing someone’s spouse, child or friend with their vehicle.

Burrows notes police are used to drivers flashing their lights to warn of speed traps. While they know there are applications for people to download that warn them of the traps and red-light cameras, tweeting RIDE checks really hits a nerve.

Burrows sent out a tweet of his own on Christmas Eve: “If you tweet a #RIDE location tonight, make sure you also apologize tomorrow to any families who lose a loved one to a drunk driver.”

Dozens of people retweeted the message, and many more wrote Burrows expressing support. “That touched a nerve with a lot of people, and I think the reason why I decided to take that one on is this isn’t just a matter of trying to get people to avoid a ticket or slow down in a speeding zone,” he says. 

“This was people that were allowing or helping others continue a criminal offence or avoid criminal prosecution. I think there is no room for that.”

Burrows agrees that tweeting RIDE locations could prompt criminal charges. “On its face, yes, it certainly could be considered an attempt to obstruct justice,” he says. 

“The reality is being a social media network, trying to prove the intent of what someone was doing and the actual identity of the person doing it [is difficult]. There are so many things that play into it. Going that route would be very arduous.”

Burrows notes police would likely save that option for the most extreme cases.
Asked why police don’t make an example out of someone to grab newspaper headlines, Burrows says it’s not a bad idea but doing so would take resources.

“You also have to balance that with what are the needs of the community and what are the resources available. Do you have a dedicated unit to enforce those types of crimes? Those are all challenges we face. Nowadays, we really have to take a hard look.”

That’s why, Burrows adds, police go onto social media web sites in order to address grey areas of the law and educate the public.

Police in Kingston, Ont., have also had their problems with people tweeting RIDE checks. Const. Steve Koopman has similar views to Burrows on the issue. The veteran police officer knows the amount of time it could take to pinpoint a name to a tweet.

Koopman says he’d first have to contact the Internet service provider for the name and Internet protocol address. In the meantime, he’d have to get a warrant. 

Then, armed with the name and address of the accused, he’d have to draft another warrant to enter the person’s home to seize the computer or smartphone. Once he’s done that, police would have to search the data on the electronics.

All of that is just to see if police can lay charges.
“Even if we’ve done that, now he’ll say, ‘I lent my phone to my sister or girlfriend or my phone went missing or something.’ You have to prove who is behind the keyboard or in this case the smartphone,” says Koopman.

In the end, Koopman feels public shaming by other tweeters is probably the best weapon. “I have noticed how the public has stepped up for the police and almost done the shaming themselves,” he says.

That was certainly the case in Toronto, where other tweeters called RIDE tattlers “losers” and “dirt bags.”

Steve Koopman is an officer with the Kingston Police and can be found on twitter here.

On a side story….here is an article from the International Association of Chiefs of Police blog, The Social Media Beat which talks about the story behind the #RIDE Tweet.

What’s your thoughts on using social platforms for this type of “social good”?  Let me know.

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Inspired Etiquette Thoughts

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Tim Burrows

I loved reading this news paper article the other day, “Don’t check me in: Etiquette in social media.”

I agree with the author completely on every point she made.  It’s worth looking at the importance of what she is saying in the context of our profession.

First point: Know your settings and how the technology works.

You need to know how to put the settings in place that will protect your own personal online safety and reputation.  You also need to set the notifications within platforms that alert you when your cyber ID has been tagged in a post, picture, tweet, video, etc.   Facebooks feature that allows review of these actions prior to them posting on your timeline (profile) is a big improvement in this regard, but even this falls short of the insulated safety net many of us want.

Second point: Don’t assume that it’s ok.

I have given up a lot of privacy online in my professional life.  That is a choice I made.  Similarly, I make the choice when I want to post a picture of myself, put myself at a location or place or in any other manner let my position, place or profile be known.  But that’s MY choice.  Even when I’m with a group of people, I only let my own info be known.  Some may not want their IDs mentioned.  I often choose my words in a particular way…I don’t know others will do the same, so let them control that.  Pictures? Never post a picture without the permission of the target.

Third point: Professional ID vs Personal ID

I have them both as I know many of you who read this blog also do.  I control what information of my personal side will cross to the professional and vice versa.  Most often the answer is simple…none. I can’t control what information others will cross for me.  Accept that it’s out of your control, but control what you can.  Simply put, if you never allow the two worlds to collide, you’ll be a little better insulated.  NEVER assume that you’re completely safe though.  Settings and talking to your family and friends can help.

I can’t stress this enough…KNOW YOUR TECHNOLOGY.

Let people know how you feel about it.  Just because you’re using the technology, doesn’t mean you want to sacrifice all your privacy, so let your friends and co-workers know.

Just because people you know are out there, doesn’t give you the permission to tag away. So ask…it’s polite.

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Ethical Use of Social Media

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Tim Burrows

No matter who I’m writing for I usually have a topic in mind, write the article or post and then determine the title.  Not this post…the title came first and that is actually going to present a problem.

Ethics.  Where do you begin on that one and how do you truly determine the ethical use of social media by law enforcement?  I mean really; should that even be a consideration?  Why would that be something to write about?  With all our training, governance, rules, procedures, oaths, guidelines, etc, etc, etc, ethical use shouldn’t be an issue.

Sadly, it is.  Hey we’re humans.  We make mistakes. We have different judgements.  We are influenced by our own experiences.  We lack knowledge.  The list goes on and on.

There are some really simple things that everyone using social media should recognize immediately.

  • Always give credit for anything that is not your own original idea, thought, post, or point
  • Reference and source information
  • Share openly
  • Be respectful
  • Create for the common good
  • Never have ulterior motives
  • Consider who you represent
These are the simples…no thought required.  Hey, are they different from real life?  NO!!
But every now and again, we see glaring examples of people going against every one of those.
The reasons are many.  Personal agenda, failing to recognize who you are posting for, lack of knowledge or understanding of the tools.  Then there are the real bad offences…things that have nothing to do with errors in judgement…malicious posts, breaking simple common sense rules of policing, rights violations and the false sense of anonymity.
But come on…some of the recent examples that have made the news are just out to lunch!
Public shaming.  Political statements.  Personal opinions in the wrong forum or manner.  Grandstanding and just plain stupidity.  
You have a great tool at your finger tips.  Use it for greatness.  


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Policy and Punishment

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Tim Burrows

I saw a couple of interesting things come across my social media stream this week that really caught my eyes.

One issue came from the UK and the other from Australia.  One was about policy and the other about punishment, or at least it will be in the future.

Policy:

The title of the policy article is what got me to open the story. “Social media rules for public servants ‘laughable‘.”  How could I not jump into this one?

Essentially, the Australian Public Service released new rules for how members participate online.

The “laughable” quote was credited to Greg Jericho, (coincidently the person who the changes are being named for – there’s a great story there).

The new rules address everything that could possibly be considered.  Working, not working, representing your agency, not representing your agency, personal opinion, professional opinion.  They have covered everything!  I thing some parts of the rules are fantastic, well-balanced and necessary.  Other parts…I think I described it best as ‘handcuffs and gag orders.’

Why is policy so difficult to get right?

Maybe it’s because you can have so many opinions and views on what social media should be.  What it should say?  Who should say it? Does it represent the public or does it represent the agency / organization?  It could simply be because no one has clearly defined the goals or strategy for your social media presence.  No policy, no strategy, no goals…how can you expect anyone to be able to do it right when right has been set out?

Maybe that’s what happened that led to the next part of this post.

Punishment

A police officer in the UK is facing discipline for some of the comments he put into his Twitter stream.  I’d link the officers Twitter account for you, but it seems to have disappeared.  Either way, here’s the story.

The officer in question made comments that ranged from expressions of political assertions, complaints of the details he was assigned and tweets that could directly cause a negative impact to community safety, confidence in the police if that wasn’t enough he potentially put other police officers safety at risk.  Not really what we expect from police officers.

Some of you are probably thinking no big deal.  In fact, you might be applauding the officer for speaking his mind.  Letting the public know his dissatisfaction with the service they were receiving from their police at the hands of the government.  Even calling out problems within the police department itself.  Don’t we want our police to be honest, open and transparent? YES WE DO!!

But, should we undermine the confidence the public has in its police? No.  Should we have to tell an officer that they shouldn’t be providing operational details to the public? No.  Can we expect a seasoned, veteran officer should know that you don’t put your fellow officers at risk or create an opportunity for criminals to exploit weaknesses? No

Should we need policies like those introduced to the Public Service Employees in Australia?  No

I just wrote a lot of no’s but there are officers doing things like those of the officer in the UK and we have policies being created like those in Australia.

Why?  Because there are people who complete the circle of necessity.  You know what that is:

  • BOB – Do we need a rule for that?
  • SUE – No, because no one would ever do that.
  • BOB – OK.
  • BOB – Someone did that.
  • SUE – Someone did that?
  • BOB – Yes.
  • SUE – Why did they do that?
  • BOB – They said because there wasn’t a rule to say they couldn’t.
  • SUE – OK, we need a rule because someone did that.

As long as there are people like the officer in the UK we will have policies like those that came out in Australia.

I don’t mean to centre these two instances out because there are so many others that I could pick form…they just happened to occur this week.  Next week it will be another country, another officer.

I would love to hear your opinion on this one.  Let me know what you think.

 

 

 

 

 

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Direct Message Spam / Phishing Hacks

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Tim Burrows

This has been a topic that has been discussed since the Internet was born.  As long as there have been accounts, Internet / intranet sites and stored data, people have been hacking into them for various reasons.

In the social media space, most attacks on personal and corporate accounts are to do nothing more than garner account information to increase the hackers own data base of perspective “cold call” messaging.

Often the first attack is to get the victim’s account information to send out spam.  The second reason is to sell that information to allow a third-party to mass message in the public timeline. And yes, there are many other reasons and lots that you won’t even see coming or going.

This is not the same as someone hacking into your account by using your actual password.  The first protection from that occurring is to ensure you have a solid password.  (I suggest one that is minimum 8 characters long and includes special characters, letters and numbers. I.e.: abC12#Zy )

The following graphics detail what occurs to allow these scams / hacks to occur and the steps you need to take if this ever happens to you.

In the graphic below, you can see some of the wording that is used to draw you into the scam.  It is often based on things that demand your attention:

  • Reputation management
  • Ego
  • Vanity
  • Sentiment

Figure 1

Other successful campaigns have included terminology similar in nature:

  • “This is the funniest picture I have ever seen of you”
  • “I can’t believe you said this, what were you thinking”
  • “After reading this, I’d like to discuss what we need to do next.”

You may know or not know the person who has sent the message.  Your name is never included and the link address you need to click is always hidden with a URL shortener.

When you click the link you will be taken to the following page, or one similar.

Figure 2

Prior to clicking the link and putting my account information, I took a screen shot of my “Edit Profile Page”

In Figure 3 after ‘Design’ the screen is empty.

Figure 3

Here is what the page looks like after:

Figure 4

In Figure 4, ‘Applications’ has appeared.

Applications are 3rd party programs (applications) that you have authorized to use your Twitter Account.  As discussed in your SM Training, anytime you authorize an app, it is good practise to look at what programs you have authorized to ensure only ones you have authorized are showing up.

In Figure 5, I have blocked out the names and descriptions of the apps but you can see to the right of the app the ‘Revoke Access’ tab has been highlighted.

Figure 5

Simply click the revoke access tab to remove the app from your list.

PARAMOUNT

You must change your password if this ever happens to you and in the future, don’t click links in Direct Messages, just ignore them.

There is always an inherent risk when clicking blind links (ones that don’t show the complete address).  But, most links in Twitter are blind and rarely cause problems.  It is NEVER ok to enter you password information UNLESS you are actually authorizing an app.

Authorizing an Authorized App – What you will see

Figure 6

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The Top 25 SMEM (by Patrice Cloutier)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Tim Burrows

For those of you who don’t know Patrice Cloutier, you are missing out on a fountain of information.  The past month he has been cultivating a list of the top #SMEM (Social Meida for Emergency Management) people and sites.  The list is fantastic!! (Full disclosure, I’m on the list).

I’ve asked Patrice if I could re-produce the list here and he very graciously agreed so, here it is.  But, please do me a favour and take a minute to visit Patrice and see the history of the list, the explanation of each person/site. (Links in the post below for everyone).

You can follow Patrice on Twitter, Google+, Facebook and of course subscribe to his blog!

Here is his #SMEM top 25 in it’s entirety!

THE TOP 3: best in #smem … the big reveal

Okay, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that my top three choices for the best destinations on social media in emergency management are bloggers. I’m a blogger. To me, blogs are still relevant as a way to focus interest, launch discussions and make signification contributions. Coupled with social media savvy … blogs can have an impact … So here we go.
In third spot ( I’m still ranking although they all share the top spot on the smem podium in my mind) is my friend Jim Garrow. His blog “the face of the matter” has become one of the most important destinations on what social media means in terms of public health and emergency preparedness, but also what it means for the convergence of legacy media and how people consume their news.
This means Jim understand the new challenges faced by PIOs, incident managers and other EM professionals because social media is changing our world. His blog posts reflect his thinking on key issues. For example:
James Garrow is an avid blogger (since his days as JimmyJazz) but he’s a fabulous tweeter and knows how to maximize his influence by punctual and effective tweets. Kudos all around … a source of inspiration and someone I consider a friend.
In second spot, Kim Stephens. The author of perhaps the most significant blog on smem: the “idisaster 2.0” blog.  Kim provides a good analysis of the growing role of new technologies and social media in the response and recovery phases.
Her posts on Joplin tornado aftermath and in the follow up to the Queensland floods really illustrated the growing important of SM in all phases of EM.  And that’s why they were both highlighted (Joplin, Queensland)  in her own list of top smem destinations. And she finds time to speak with those involved in EM activities and get their feedback about the role of SM.
Whether talking about preparedness, crisis communications or engaging with audiences, Kim’s comments come from experience and with sound observations on the benefits (and risks) of social media and mobile technologies.
You can hear share her vision and observations in this podcast. A regular contributor to the Friday #smemchat, Kim is a mainstay on the #smem hashtag on twitter … She is a trusted voice and her opinion matters … to more than just a few people.  Well done my friend!
Now time for the drum roll … I’m a blogger writing on emergency management and crisis communications but I’m first and foremost, a communicator and a former reporter. So, it’s natural that my first choice as someone who influences me the most in the smem world (both from a crisis comms and an EM perspective) should be another communicator.

The blogs penned by Gerald Baron (AKA the crisisblogger) tops my list of the 25 most important destinations online for social media in emergency management. As I mentioned earlier in my list, Gerald writes a blog for Emergency Management Magazine in addition to his own personal blog. His writings clearly illustrate the impact that social media have on crises and how perceptions are shaped. That’s the bread and butter of crisis communicators.

Now, undertaking a new challenge as head of his firm (Agincourt Strategies), Gerald is positioning himself as one of the most respected face in the world of crisis communications. A world that’s forever changed because of the imperatives brought by social media. He explains what it means for organizations, businesses, government, journalists and the public:

Because of his experiences in large-scale emergencies (think BP Gulf spill), his creation of the PIER System and his work with some of the most important businesses and organizations involved in emergency response, Gerald’s words carry a lot of weight. You can follow him on twitter as @gbaron.

I know i’m constantly learning when I read his posts and those of Jim Garrow and Kim Stephens.

So this brings me to the end of my little holiday project and while it was lots of fun, it was also time consuming … so, some time off from this blog for a few days !  And for those who think this was just about promoting the work of friends, a sort of “mutual adoration society” … well, I call ’em as I see ’em … The people and organizations on my list matter to me … and that’s all I ever wanted to show …

Many, many thanks to those who’ve responded to my posts and also to Kim and Jim for agreeing to come up with their own list … the variety of choices is testimony to the excellent work done all over the world in integrating SM into EM programs.

Best wishes to you all!

the complete list: 
#1: Gerald Baron … the crisisblogger … as close to a guru as I’ve got …
#2: Kim Stephens, the idisaster 2.0 blog …  brilliant smem analysis …
#3: Jim Garrows’ the face of the matter blog … the Philly SMEM stalwart …
#4: PTSC-Online … a Canadian EM professional development tool
#5: Linkedin Groups … groups on EM and SM on LinkedIn
#6: Craig Fugate and FEMA
#7: the SocialMedia Examiner website
#8: Emergency Management Magazine
#9: Chief Bill Boyd’s blog: It’s not my emergency! 
#10: SM4EM. org and Cheryl Bledsoe
#11: Jeff Phillips, Los Ranchos EM
#12: Sgt Tim Burrows, Constable Scott Mills and the Toronto Police Service 
#13: the weekly #smemchat
#14: 999 Social Media 
#15: Brian Humphrey … a true pionneer
#16: ushahidi … witnessing change and progress in SMEM

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Take your time with Facebooks TimeLine

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Tim Burrows

As many of you probably know by now, Timeline is here.  What’s TimeLine you ask?  Well, great question.  Timeline is the evolution of Facebook.  Your present profile will be replaced by Timeline.  You can ask for it now, you can wait until it is offered or you can wait until the inevitable happens, and you are ported over to it.

The best description I have seen of Timeline is, “Timeline is supposed to be a scrapbook of your whole life.” Associated Press

But realistically, it can’t be your whole life, but your life on FB and be sure to understand this part…the part of your life that FB wants to show.

I’ve been on Timeline for about a week now and I really have mixed feelings about it.  (Kind of how I feel about Facebook in general).  So, I’ll save my personal opinion on each aspect of it, but I will give you a couple of things to think about.

The literal timeline allows for anyone to take a look at your history way easier than ever before, so if you’ve got skeletons…get rid of them.  Who you are now, may not be the person you were five years ago.

Activity Log – This is you, everything you have done, said, liked, commented on, posted, etc.  This is the easiest way to navigate your history.  You are the only one who can see this.

Friends – Are you hiding your friends? I suggest you do, but even people you aren’t friends with you can see any mutual friends you share, regardless of your privacy settings.

View of my personal FB account from my work account. Notice they aren't friends, but you can see the mutual friends. Clicking on Friends will show all mutual friends.

Cover Page – You can put your own picture here to act as the cover for your Timeline which partners with your avatar.

Life Event – You can add depth to what you have done both on Facebook and off.  There are lots of sub-menus so experiment.

  1. When you get Timeline, don’t switch over to it right away.  Presently you have 7 days to play with it, tweak it and customize it.  TAKE THAT TIME!
  2. Take a look through your past posts.  Reassess if you want to delete them, change the audience for them and or hide it from Timeline.
  3. Review all your privacy settings.  This is something you should be doing anytime you hear about a functionality change to FB in general.
  4. Take advantage of the Feature setting.
  5. Use the “View as” feature to see what your Timeline looks like.

Click the link below for an overview of Timeline from Facebook.

 FB Resource of Timeline

Here are some other great articles about the change.

Facebook Timeline Now Pushed To Everyone, Users Get A Week To Clean Up Profiles

http://mashable.com/2012/01/24/facebook-timeline-everyone-2/

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-timeline-and-what-marketers-need-to-know/

 

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I’m stealing this post!!

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Tim Burrows

Ok, not really.  I’m sharing this post.  I read this today and I agree with it so much and support the stand in it, that RT’ing it, sharing it and hoping you all look at it isn’t enough. I really want everyone to see the genius behind this blog.

Thanks to Patrice Cloutier for sharing this post with me, (another great site to look at when you are done here).

So here is what got me so excited this morning….not changing a word, comma, spelling.  It is just to awesome just the way it is!!

Full credit for the post is to http://chiefb2.wordpress.com/

Obtuse brevity

Posted: December 14, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized |Leave a comment »

My staff often accuses me of being obtuse and nebulous as I pontificate in briefings and written communications.  While I don’t agree with their jealous and myopic perspective of my keen skill in spouting bureaucratic hyperbole, I thought it prudent to state simply the overarching concepts inherent in effective and principled social media crisis communications. As you peruse these snippets of brevity, reflect on recent crisis SM communications.  Were these critical tenants addressed?  I strained to address each of these succinctly…

Fast

Don’t pass go, don’t collect $200.  Just Do It.  (Apologies to Nike)

Responsive

Someone mentions you, contacts you, fillets you, praises you…. Acknowledge. You don’t have to agree, but at least acknowledge

Credible

You fudge, hedge, deflect, delay, lie…. G’day benefit of the doubt

Honest

If you did it, own it.  If you didn’t, state it.  If you don’t know, say so!

Accurate

It’s OK to release information current at the time.  It’s not OK to let incorrect or old information linger.  If you are wrong, or info changes, get it fixed..NOW!

Expert

Ya better know what you are talking about, or make sure you get someone onboard who does (or at least appears as though they do).

Observant

Shut up and listen. (Courtesy of my Dad)

Skeptical

Challenging information begins with a one word question…  “Really?” Think before you RT someone else’s stuff.

Innovative

Information travels at the speed of light.  Culture changes are happening at the speed of sound.  It’s still faster than we can drive.  Get with it.

Respectful

Don’t diss your customers (listeners)…Period.  The customer is always right…. Unless they are a criminal.  Then,  book ‘em.

Caring

Two words –  “I’m sorry” But, you better mean it.

Have a great holiday season everyone!

========================= The End=====================

When I was writing the Social Media Basic 6 Part Series, I wish I had been better at the use of Obscure Brevity!   (I am still using a dictionary to figure out the first paragraph of this post…but I sure got the points!)

Have a great day everyone!

Agree / disagree? Let me know your thoughts or just share your opinion…its a free world!

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How to do Social Media

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Tim Burrows

Out of all the questions that one can ask about social media, this is probably the toughest one to answer.  How do you do social media?  Some of you may say that it isn’t a tough question.  You set up an account or two, and start making posts, update your status, make a video or two, take some pictures and you are doing social media.

Some people may even look at the all the posts in this series and think, well, I’ll answer the Who, What, Where, Why and When and I’ll be good to go.  There may even be a select few that will say designing a policy; writing a procedure and creating a strategy are the best ways to start doing social.

I know of and have seen several agencies and individuals doing social. They post, they tweet, the play, they engage and use all the keywords, so one could say they are doing social.  But, let’s be honest.  Just because you are doing social, doing mean anything if you aren’t doing it right.

Anyone can do social media. My 9-year-old son can tweet, can make a video and upload pictures.  The reality is, the question isn’t how to do social media.  As Eric Qualman, said, “…the question is, how well we do it.*”

There can also be an argument to be made that the manner of doing social media well can vary and is open to interpretation.  Sure, I’ll go with that and concede that there are many ways to do social media well, but I will also be adamant with this…if your social media isn’t one hundred percent committed to honesty, integrity, transparency and dedication to your agencies core values; you are doing social media horribly.

If your social media presence damages your agencies reputation with posts that are made or the manner in which they are presented, you are not doing social media well.

I remember reading a post once that was shocking to see come from a police officer.  I had the chance to meet the officer and I asked why the post was made?  The answer blew me away, “To create dialogue.”

Folks, if you are trying to create dialogue and you think being offensive or ridiculous in doing so is effective, you are way off the mark.  You can be bold. You can be dangerous.  And yes, you can be controversial, but you can’t be stupid in doing any of those things.

Social Media Policy

  1. Don’t do anything stupid – Once you can get your head around that, you are halfway to ensuring that you are doing social media well.
  2. Be social – Think of the name that is used to describe all these tools, “Social Media”.  You have to be social!  You need to interact and converse with the public.  It is not meant to be a one way broadcast medium.  Yes, answer even the tough questions.
  3. Honesty is the best police – Don’t ever lie or mislead.  If you ever use anyone else’s information, give credit to the originator.
  4. There are no secrets – There maybe things you can’t say for legal, evidentiary or other reasons so tell people those are things you can’t talk about if there is a question raised in those areas.  I think there is enough ample evidence around to show when you try to hide something, you’ll get burned.  Don’t give people a reason to dig by trying to hide something; people’s “BS” factor is awesome and accurate.
  5. Never forget who you are – You are the police or a law enforcement agency.   You have a sworn duty and like it or not, you are held to a higher standard.  If social media were to be banned, police work will still go on…it’s a tool, or a resource.
  6. Be consistent – Post, update, respond, reply and re-tweet regularly.
  7. Be professional – Put your best foot forward.  Never swear, be offensive, rude, derogatory or insulting.  Learn how to use your equipment so what you do looks good.

So, go out, have fun, enjoy yourself. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel and think you have to force policing into social media.  Figure out how you can make social media work for you and your community together.

*Social Media Revolution 

 

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Setting the record straight

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Tim Burrows

I’ve veered away from the basics of social media series to focus on an interesting story that I just came across.

Ogden police seek to quell online rumors about student’s death

Quick notes of the above story.

  • A 14-year-old girl died Tuesday night.
  • Rumours quickly spread speculating the cause of death
  • Bullying had been specifically cited
  • Social media use fuel
  • led the speculation

The Ogden police chief spoke up to set the record straight.

  • No clear indication of bullying
  • No arrest
  • The investigation is ongoing

One of the best parts of the article was a quote by Chief Nordquist

“I don’t want to minimize this in any way, but right now we are dealing with the facts,” he said. “And we do have an active investigation. I’m not saying that nothing like this happened, but we have no clear or solid evidence now that this was related to bullying.”

The Chief has done absolutely the right thing here.  Recognizing the role social media is playing in maintaining a clear and concise investigation has to be recognized but also ensuring that the facts remain paramount.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Social media is a tool.  A resource.  It is not the end all and be all of anything! In this case, the Chief recognized the role that social is playing and that when things are going off track that cloud the issues, the facts and the realities, they have to be addressed.

The Ogden investigation as stated will look into all the rumours, but here is a good tip:

If you recognize a problem such as rumour and innuendo creeping in, remind your audience that the facts have to remain clear.  Ask people to contact investigators with information and leave it out of the social streams.  In a case like this there are two prime considerations

1.) The investigation is the last voice for the deceased and everything must be done to ensure that voice is understood perfectly.

2.) Don’t leave a single post unturned if that’s what it take to get to point number 1.

Kudos to Ogden police for their attention.

 

 

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