#CopChat – Wednesday October 1…Topic

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Tim Burrows

#CopChatWelcome to October everyone! The last quarter of 2014 has officially begun and the rest of the calendar makes a slide right downhill to Christmas!

But before we get there we have to get through US and Canadian Turkey Festivals, Hallowe’en so lets not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Today is also the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and everything is pink today in support of it!Breast-Cancer-Ribbon-Paint

There are a million and one (It’s true I’ve counted) causes and celebrations that we all collectively support. Nowadays we can show our support in so many ways through social media and networks.

Tonight’s #CopChat is going to focus on sharing of social good programs and projects by your emergency services providers. I think you’ll like where I’m going to go with this 😉

#CopChat topic for Wednesday, October 1 is…

Click To Tweet

(By the way, ask me how freaked out I am that I was able to figure out the HTML code to change the size and color of the font to pink!!!!)

What are the #CopChat “rules”?

There are no ‘rules’ but we want this to be a good experience for everyone so here are some ideas to help.

  1. The first rule of #CopChat is that we talk about #CopChat.

    This isn’t FightClub.

  2. If you have a blog, website or social channel that you want to share, please do so at the beginning…but we’ll ask that you don’t do any selling of products or services.  This chat is for discussion not sales. If you would like to sponsor a chat or promote your product, email me. ( timburrows1266@gmail.com )
  3. There is no insulting, bullying or swearing.  If someone says something that you don’t agree with, respectfully say so and have a discussion.  That is what this is all about…learning and sharing.
  4. If a subject presents itself that you may have written a piece for feel free to share at the end of the chat using the hashtag. Depending on the speed of the chat it could get lost in the stream during the middle of it and you’re less likely to get clicks during the chat.
  5. If someone tweets something that you feel compelled to RT, do it! But, make it even better by adding your own flavour to it, or conversely, if you disagree, say so and provide the reason why.
  6. If someone disagrees with your position take the criticism professionally…no twitter fights.  It won’t serve anyone with any value.  Take it out of the chat and have your fight without the hashtag.  No one wants to see children fight…we want to see adults chat.
  7. Finally…no tweet longer apps.  Keep it under 140, no one wants to be clicking links to see the rest of your tweet. It will take people out of the conversation and probably get ignored anyways.
  8. Abuse – if you choose to abuse the forum you will be blocked / muted and really what will that accomplish. We are all here to learn from each other. If you don’t like the police then say so respectfully…who knows, you might have a valid point but if it’s expressed poorly, no one will ever learn from it.

How to follow along.

Naturally, the easiest way is by using the hashtag… #CopChat

Using a dashboard platform like You will want to use TweetDeck / Hootsuite / TweetChat / Twubs etc, to follow the #CopChat.  You may also want create streams to follow @t_burrows and who ever may be co-hosting. Make sure you watch your own mentions stream so you don’t miss anything someone says to you.

 

Posted in Communication, Resources | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hurt No More Chat tonight at 9pm ET #HNMChat with @HNMKids

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Tim Burrows
Join @HNMKids / #HNMChat 9pm ET Tuesday October 7th for a look at #bullying prevention

Click To Tweet

Most of you that have followed along with this blog or what I talk about on social media will know that besides the law enforcement use of social media, one of my passions is causes that seek to find solutions to bullying.Screenshot 2014-09-29 09.53.36

I am the first to admit that I don’t believe there are any easy solutions to ending bullying. I do however believe that the more awareness that is brought to the subject and education that can be given will go along way in changing the environment and in the long run, finding solutions.

One of the major issues that stands in the way of bullying is the cycle of acceptance that has been created for decades over the issue. When I was in school, bullying was deemed to be a part of “growing up.” Even now, many people consider bullying a natural right of passage. Think about it…there are people who think it’s just ok and natural to bully people.

I’m not one of them and I know that many of you out there feel the same.

Bullying can occur for many different reasons.

Kids get picked on because:

  • they wear different clothes
  • they talk different
  • they have physical challenges
  • they have mental challenges
  • they are smart
  • they are not smart
  • they don’t like sports
  • they like a certain music
  • they like art
  • they are poor
  • they are entitled

The list goes on and on. The root often times is a misunderstanding and a lack of respect for other people’s values or ideals. It doesn’t matter what the reason is though…all that matters is it is wrong.

My son was bullied once at school which ended in his iPod being broken. I wasn’t satisfied with the response from the school who tried to minimize the issue as, “boys will be boys” situation and the best way they thought to deal with it was to have my son remove himself from the situation. Wrong…dead wrong. That’s one of the problems our kids face. Band-Aid solutions are put on arterial bleeds. It just doesn’t work. In the end the bullies had to face what they did, my son’s iPod was replaced and the school apologized for their handling of it.

What happened there can and does happen in so many other places and often the kids that get bullied learn over time they don’t get the support they need and they simply stop talking to people about it. With that comes a lack of support and a feeling that they have to where to turn.

In the extreme cases, many of these kids become Internet sensations because of the speed, voracity and anonymous ability of social media. The absolute brutal nature of it has led kids to take their own lives because of the loss of hope they feel.

On Tuesday, October 7th, #HNMChat  a chat will be happening on Twitter at 9pm ET to talk about bullying. @HNMKids will be hosting the chat and using the hashtag #HNMChat.

The Hurt No More organization will be hosting the chat to make sure the conversation takes place. Hurt No More is a group dedicated to end bullying through a program of learning and understanding that doesn’t focus on a “rah, rah let’s stop bullying” approach, but instead an entire program that has been developed to not define acts of bullying or target bullies, but to shine a light on the entire cycle and solutions.

Tuesday, September 20th 9pm ET #HNMChat on Twitter

Tuesday, September 20th 9pm ET #HNMChat on Twitter

I hope you will join the chat to help raise awareness and help shine that light.

Take a look at the site if you can and also give @HNMKids a follow on Twitter.

It would be great if you could share this information by simply clicking “Click To Tweet” in the box below.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

ACLU sues Abbeville’s Mayor and Police Chief Over Social Media Policy

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Tim Burrows

Here is an interesting case to follow over the next little while. The following is a reproduction from EINNEWS.

NEW ORLEANS — The ACLU of Louisiana has sued Abbeville’s mayor and police chief over a policy barring police from any social media use showing the city in a bad light.

The policy is so vague that the plaintiff, police Sgt. Colt Landry, can’t tell what he’s allowed to do on social media, said Marjorie Esman, ACLU Louisiana executive director.

“Could you post a photograph of a house that’s in disrepair even if you don’t do it for the purpose of pointing out the fact that it’s in disrepair?” she said. “Maybe it’s your house or your grandmother’s house. Maybe it needs a paint job. Somebody might say it sheds a negative light on the city. Could you post a negative review of a restaurant that served you a bad meal? … Could you say ‘There’s a pothole on my street and it’s been there a while and I don’t know why the city’s not fixing it?'”

Mayor Mark Piazza and Chief of Police Tony Hardy declined to comment Thursday on the lawsuit filed Wednesday for Landry.

Landry faces disciplinary action for a comment he made off-duty on a private Facebook page — a comment that became public when someone else shared it, Esman, said.

Esman wouldn’t give details because Landry’s hearing is still pending, the ACLU is not involved in it “and it’s not at all relevant other than it leaves him in a position where he doesn’t know what he can or cannot say in the future.”

The policy, copied in the lawsuit, forbids any police department employee from posting, responding to, sharing, liking, tagging or commenting on any social networking site to anything about the department or anything “which will give a negative view towards the City of Abbeville, the Abbeville Police Department or its employees.”

“Negative view” is defined as “any insulting, disrespectful, profane or derogatory Post, Comment, Private Message, “Like”, Share or Photograph directed towards the City of Abbeville, the Abbeville Police Department, its officials, employees or citizens.”

Esman said, “That leaves it up to the mayor and police chief to interpret, based on their own standards of what might make the city look bad.”

“Social networking sites have become a forum for both local issues of great importance as well national and international importance,” the lawsuit stated, comparing the city’s policy to foreign governments restricting Twitter feeds by dissidents.

“This type of restriction strikes at the very core of First Amendment rights and is antithetical to the values of a free society,” it said.Screenshot 2014-09-26 14.50.46

My thoughts…can the city and police chief make a policy that limits what city employees can say and do on social media? Sure they can. But the question is, how far can that policy stretch and to what degree can the policy restrict first amendment rights?

I believe that the city is going to be on the losing end of this one since the policy is so open to personal beliefs and interpretation. Think of it this way….

You go to Abbeville as a tourist and check-in to a local restaurant and order a meal. You then proceed to have the worst customer service experience, horrible food and get sick. Like everyone does nowadays, you tell your social media audience about your experience.

Next thing is a city employee sees your post, has had a similar experience at the same restaurant and “likes” your post or shares it.

According to the policy…that employee can face discipline.

How about a local person complaining about a pothole and a city employee says, “It’s a brutal spot to be driving. Hopefully it get’s fixed.”

Again, discipline.

All I can say is, I’m glad I don’t work for Abbeville or I could end up losing my job over this post.

All this policy does is takes away from progress, openness and transparency. Allow your people to shine and they will. Give them guidance and training and I bet you’ll find that they do incredible things for your town’s reputation. Have a policy like this and you might just get the opposite reaction.

Just don't say anything negative about us!

Just don’t say anything negative about us!

 

Posted in Communication, Reputation Management | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

How do you measure up?

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Tim Burrows

measuring tapeI think one of the places that law enforcement is missing the boat in their social media programs is in the area of measurement, or more accurately…what they are measuring.

Followers, likes, subscribers and friends are essentially to having a voice in the social streams but given the sheer volume of information that is out there having big numbers in those analytics aren’t really that impressive if they aren’t translating into a true function for you.Screenshot 2014-09-24 08.32.54

Yes, if you have 20,000 followers on Twitter you have a bigger voice and the odds are that more people will hear what you are saying more often which is needed, but I can go out and buy 20,000 followers and 10, 000 fans and 5,000 subscribers. I’ll have big numbers but it certainly won’t translate into an effective social media presence.

It is vital to measure what you are doing in terms of tangible results for your efforts.

Click To Tweet

Think about what it is you are actually trying to accomplish with your social media program. What were the goals you put in place to achieve and the objectives you were using to get there?

If you goal is followers…easy win, just buy them.

Time to think outside the box a little here. What are you doing on social? What are you trying to achieve?

Chances are those goals have nothing to do with followers, fans or likes but go much deeper into an area of influence.

If your goal is to create a community online…great win, just build it.

Click To Tweet

How do you measure up in terms of the influence you have with your audience and the impacts that you are trying to achieve.

You have to dig way deeper than the raw numbers and actually get right down into the re-actions that are occurring as a result of your actions.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to start looking at true measurement that matters.

Leave acomment!!Take a minute and leave a comment about what you think are the measurements that should be taking place or those metrics and insights you want to know more about.

 

Posted in Communication, Strategy | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

#CopChat – Wednesday September 24 – Topic…

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Tim Burrows

Hey #CopChatters!

This weeks #CopChat is going to be relaxed and fun. Nothing serious. No big ticket issues…just a little time to let your hair down and relive some memories and think about things that make you smile.

Let’s talk about our favorites.

Favorite movies, favorite songs and favorite TV shows where the police are the theme.

Let’s get everyone getting a little nostalgic or a little old school.

It will be the same format as other weeks…I’ll throw out the questions and you respond with your answers and then we all let the discussions happen. Everyone gets their say why Heat is a better movie than Lethal Weapon or why Beer for my Horses makes you dance more than I fought the Law. But no talk about the band ‘The Police”…that’s just mean.

Is this guy your favorite cop ever to hit the small screen?

Click To Tweet

Let's be careful out there

Let’s be careful out there

Hope to see you all taking part on Wednesday, September 24th at 9pm ET / 6pm PT.

What are the #CopChat “rules”?

There are no ‘rules’ but we want this to be a good experience for everyone so here are some ideas to help.

  1.  
    The first ‘rule’ of #CopChat is we talk about #CopChat

    Click To Tweet

    This isn’t FghtClub.

  2. If you have a blog, website or social channel that you want to share, please do so at the beginning…but we’ll ask that you don’t do any selling of products or services.  This chat is for discussion not sales. If you would like to sponsor a chat or promote your product, email me. ( timburrows1266@gmail.com )
  3. There is no insulting, bullying or swearing.  If someone says something that you don’t agree with, respectfully say so and have a discussion.  That is what this is all about…learning and sharing.
  4. If a subject presents itself that you may have written a piece for feel free to share at the end of the chat using the hashtag. Depending on the speed of the chat it could get lost in the stream during the middle of it and you’re less likely to get clicks during the chat.
  5. If someone tweets something that you feel compelled to RT, do it! But, make it even better by adding your own flavour to it, or conversely, if you disagree, say so and provide the reason why.
  6. If someone disagrees with your position take the criticism professionally…no twitter fights.  It won’t serve anyone with any value.  Take it out of the chat and have your fight without the hashtag.  No one wants to see children fight…we want to see adults chat.
  7. Finally…no tweet longer apps.  Keep it under 140, no one wants to be clicking links to see the rest of your tweet. It will take people out of the conversation and probably get ignored anyways.
  8. Abuse – if you choose to abuse the forum you will be blocked / muted and really what will that accomplish. We are all here to learn from each other. If you don’t like the police then say so respectfully…who knows, you might have a valid point but if it’s expressed poorly, no one will ever learn from it.

How to follow along.

Naturally, the easiest way is by using the hashtag… #CopChat

Using a dashboard platform like You will want to use TweetDeck / Hootsuite / TweetChat / Twubs etc, to follow the #CopChat.  You may also want create streams to follow @t_burrows and who ever may be co-hosting. Make sure you watch your own mentions stream so you don’t miss anything someone says to you.

Posted in Communication | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Protecting Yourself Publicly

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Tim Burrows

Yesterday as my family was driving around doing errands the kids squealed with excitement when we stopped near a public WiFi hotspot and they were able to get their iPods online.

They didn’t need to enter any security information or credentials. All they needed to do was join the network and voilĂ , free surfing!

This isn’t really a big deal. They don’t have any information on their iPods that could cause them any real problems. Or do they?

  • Email addresses
  • Birth dates
  • Phone numbers
  • Passwords
  • Addresses

Most of think banking, credit cards and government IDs when we think security but when someone who wants your information they will use anything to get in.

One study indicated that 39% of people have used WiFi to transmit sensitive information. 26% have checked bank accounts and 19% have paid bills using unsecured WiFi.

Surfing open WiFi…How secure are you really?

Click To Tweet

It really is that simple and dangerous.

What you can do to protect yourself

1.) Always ensure that the free WiFi network you want to join is legitimate. Ask the host

2.) Use a specific password only for WiFi hot spots. Have one password that isn’t used for anything else.

3.)  Surf for fun. Avoid doing anything secure or sensitive on open WiFi networks. Save the good stuff for a secure network.

4.) Make sure your home network is secured with a password and go the extra step and don’t name your network with your family name or address.

5.) Make sure your file sharing options are set to private / no sharing / off.

Be safe online. Don’t leave any windows open into your life

Click To Tweet

Update:

Special thanks to Kristen Rose who shared this tip with me on Twitter in response to this blog post. Kristen knows what she’s talking about. Give her a follow to learn much more!

Thank you Kristen

And another great follow up tip and conversation with @Paramedic_Mike and @ClickFlickCa. Thanks Jo for the boost about file sharing!

Posted in Tips | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

#CopChat – Wednesday September 17, 2014 – Topic

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Tim Burrows
Wednesday night, 9PM ET / 6PM PT

Wednesday night, 9PM ET / 6PM PT

Drugs…

Are they good for anything at all?

Are there any redeeming quality to them that be properly explained by anyone?

That depends greatly on which side of the legal fence you choose to sit on. Ask any police officer to come up with any benefits and you’ll hear nothing, except maybe;

Drug users help provide me job security

Click To Tweet

In Florida, like many areas,  right now there’s a lot of debate about medical marijuana being legalized while in other jurisdictions it’s not just medical marijuana but getting rid of possession as an offence altogether or at least de-criminalizing it.

Medical professionals, pro-drug advocates and businesses, lawyers have all weighed in and for the most part, the police and law enforcement have been waiting to see what the results would be through governments.

Funny thing though, police deal with drugs on a daily basis. Who would be better to really talk about the topic then the people who really see the societal impact.

I’ll even go one step further. Our friends in the other front line emergency services. Paramedics, Fire services, nurses, doctors…they all see it. Wonder what they think about it?

The question is how and that’s part of what we’ll be looking at tonight on #CopChat.

Join us tonight on #CopChat at 9PM ET / 6PM PT to talk about drugs.

Click To Tweet

What are the #CopChat “rules”?

There are no ‘rules’ but we want this to be a good experience for everyone so here are some ideas to help.

  1.  
    The first ‘rule’ of #CopChat is we talk about #CopChat. This isn’t FightClub, we have nothing to hide.

    Click To Tweet

  2. If you have a blog, website or social channel that you want to share, please do so at the beginning…but we’ll ask that you don’t do any selling of products or services.  This chat is for discussion not sales. If you would like to sponsor a chat or promote your product, email me. ( timburrows1266@gmail.com )
  3. There is no insulting, bullying or swearing.  If someone says something that you don’t agree with, respectfully say so and have a discussion.  That is what this is all about…learning and sharing.
  4. If a subject presents itself that you may have written a piece for feel free to share at the end of the chat using the hashtag. Depending on the speed of the chat it could get lost in the stream during the middle of it and you’re less likely to get clicks during the chat.
  5. If someone tweets something that you feel compelled to RT, do it! But, make it even better by adding your own flavour to it, or conversely, if you disagree, say so and provide the reason why.
  6. If someone disagrees with your position take the criticism professionally…no twitter fights.  It won’t serve anyone with any value.  Take it out of the chat and have your fight without the hashtag.  No one wants to see children fight…we want to see adults chat.
  7. Finally…no tweet longer apps.  Keep it under 140, no one wants to be clicking links to see the rest of your tweet. It will take people out of the conversation and probably get ignored anyways.
  8. Abuse – if you choose to abuse the forum you will be blocked / muted and really what will that accomplish. We are all here to learn from each other. If you don’t like the police then say so respectfully…who knows, you might have a valid point but if it’s expressed poorly, no one will ever learn from it.

How to follow along.

Naturally, the easiest way is by using the hashtag… #CopChat

Using a dashboard platform like You will want to use TweetDeck / Hootsuite / TweetChat / Twubs etc, to follow the #CopChat.  You may also want create streams to follow @t_burrows and who ever may be co-hosting. Make sure you watch your own mentions stream so you don’t miss anything someone says to you.

 

 

Posted in Communication | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#CopChat – Wednesday September 10 – Topic

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Tim Burrows
Wednesday night, 9PM ET / 6PM PT

Wednesday night, 9PM ET / 6PM PT

Content is what drives social media. Many people consider it so important that the term, “Content is king” has ruled the content marketing world. While I don’t subscribe to that (I believe that your message is actually king), I do consider content to be the oxygen supply for the king.

Content is really that important. 

Content can be created, then shared, re-shaped, re-used, re-distributed and re-purpose. You can curate content from other sources and share it with your audience. Great content will take on a life of its own and grow…just think about how many things go viral based on the content that is created.

Sometimes content ideas are planned, worked on and distributed through careful planing and strategy where you actually take the time to create the conversation. Other times, content ideas are dropped in your lap like a Christmas present.

This week just that type of content inspiration was given to all police agencies in the form of a domestic violence video courtesy of Ray Rice and his at the time girlfriend. Many people knew about the event that occurred last February but didn’t know the degree of what had happened until TMZ Sports obtained extended footage of the event.

Two crowd generated hashtags arose very quickly and have trended for two days on Twitter, #WhyIStayed #WhyILeft.

What a golden opportunity to insert yourself into a conversation by offering resources, facts, statistics and answers for an audience that was talking about the issues. If you don’t think there were people from your communities watching those conversations looking for help you’re crazy.

Tonight on #CopChat we’ll discuss content opportunities like this one. How to insert yourself, how to recognize them and how to be there for your vulnerable communities and beyond.

I hope you can join us at 9PM ET / 6PM PT.

What are the #CopChat “rules”?

There are no ‘rules’ but we want this to be a good experience for everyone so here are some ideas to help.

  1. The first ‘rule’ of #CopChat is we talk about #CopChat. This isn’t FightClub, we have nothing to hide.

  2. If you have a blog, website or social channel that you want to share, please do so at the beginning…but we’ll ask that you don’t do any selling of products or services.  This chat is for discussion not sales. If you would like to sponsor a chat or promote your product, email me. ( timburrows1266@gmail.com )

  3. There is no insulting, bullying or swearing.  If someone says something that you don’t agree with, respectfully say so and have a discussion.  That is what this is all about…learning and sharing.

  4. If a subject presents itself that you may have written a piece for feel free to share at the end of the chat using the hashtag. Depending on the speed of the chat it could get lost in the stream during the middle of it and you’re less likely to get clicks during the chat.

  5. If someone tweets something that you feel compelled to RT, do it! But, make it even better by adding your own flavour to it, or conversely, if you disagree, say so and provide the reason why.

  6. If someone disagrees with your position take the criticism professionally…no twitter fights.  It won’t serve anyone with any value.  Take it out of the chat and have your fight without the hashtag.  No one wants to see children fight…we want to see adults chat.

  7. Finally…no tweet longer apps.  Keep it under 140, no one wants to be clicking links to see the rest of your tweet. It will take people out of the conversation and probably get ignored anyways.

  8. Abuse – if you choose to abuse the forum you will be blocked / muted and really what will that accomplish. We are all here to learn from each other. If you don’t like the police then say so respectfully…who knows, you might have a valid point but if it’s expressed poorly, no one will ever learn from it.

How to follow along.

Naturally, the easiest way is by using the hashtag… #CopChat

Using a dashboard platform like You will want to use TweetDeck / Hootsuite / TweetChat / Twubs etc, to follow the #CopChat.  You may also want create streams to follow @t_burrows and who ever may be co-hosting. Make sure you watch your own mentions stream so you don’t miss anything someone says to you.

Posted in Communication, Inspiration, Strategy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Why Law Enforcement Should Be Loving Ray Rice Right Now

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Tim Burrows

By now you’ve more than likely seen or at the very least heard about Ray Rice, Janay (Palmer) Rice and the infamous video that has the now former Baltimore Ravens running back out of work.

For those of you that haven’t seen it, you’ll have to find it yourself because I have no interest in sharing a pretty disgusting video of a woman get cold-cocked by a professional football player. (Notice I didn’t use the word man there.)

February 15, 2014 Rice and his at the time fiancĂŠe got onto an Atlantic City Hotel elevator. In surveillance video that has been released you get to see that they are in some sort exchange, then once in the elevator she moves towards him and he clocks her with a left knocking her off her feet. On the way to the elevator floor she smashed her head off a hand railing and laid motionless on the floor.

Motionless until the doors opened and it appeared Rice tried to prop her up then dragged her out of the elevator and left her on the floor. That part of the video wasn’t new. The NFL, Rice and the Ravens dealt with the video then…but according to news reports, only the later half of the video had ever been seen before.

OK…so what in the world does all this have to do with law enforcement and social media? Great question. I’m getting to that.

In March when the Ravens and Rice held a press conference, Ms. Palmer then, now Mrs. Rice even took on the burden of being an abused woman, “I do deeply regret the role that I played in the incident that night…”. 

Photo credit: autismwonderland.com in support of October Domestic Violence Awareness month

Photo credit: autismwonderland.com in support of October Domestic Violence Awareness month

SAY WHAT??? Her role??…What role did she play to have her fiancĂŠe, a 200 pound professional football player, lambasted her with a left hook?

Enter the law enforcement and social media point the of this post…

Police and law enforcement should be jumping all over this story. Right now there is a hashtag on Twitter that was actually trending yesterday, #WhyIStayed, which is a crowd sourced account of the reasons why people stay in abusive relationships.

Photo Credit: @TIME

Photo Credit: @TIME

I started watching the hashtag yesterday and have continued to do so up until writing this post…there have only been a few police officers and agencies who have said anything at all about and what they have said has been less than thrilling.

Big deal…oh, you’re reading about this terrible problem and doing your slacktivism by talking about.  For crap sakes, do something worthwhile!

  • Share resources that people in abusive relationships can go to.
  • Talk about the statistics detailing the number of times people who are abused feel the sting of abuse before they have the courage to say something
  • Talk about the repetitive nature that abusers have
  • Tell a freaking story about someone who was abused and got out
  • Tell a story about someone who was abused that didn’t get out
  • Share some pictures of what abuse marks look like
    Photo credit: reachofmaconcounty.org

    Photo credit: reachofmaconcounty.org

This is a golden opportunity to be creating content, sharing content and letting people who are speaking up, speaking out and especially those who are suffering in silence to know the facts, the resources that are available and what they can do.

Sure, there are lots of stories about people and organizations trying to jack a hashtag for their own benefit and that might be scaring you. Well let me tell you, this is EXACTLY the time you SHOULD be trying to JACK a hashtag because it’s won’t be about you, it will be about helping your community.

Law enforcement should be all over this story in every way they can. There is lots of talk about domestic violence and how bad it is, but when there is a golden opportunity to champion it and possibly get tonnes of earned media attention…crickets.

Victims groups, the media and victims themselves have been talking about it…what more do you need to talk about it? If you’re waiting for an invitation, here it is…I invite you to jack this story for the benefit of every single person who has been abused, in an abusive relationship now and for the prevention of domestic abuse in the future.

Need some resources to source?  Here you go…

National Domestic Violence Hotline Web Site (USA)

1-800-799-7233

1-800-799-7233

Feminist Majority Foundation (USA)Screenshot 2014-09-09 19.46.31

 

Canadian Women’s FoundationScreenshot 2014-09-09 19.50.58

Posted in Communication, Rant | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

#CopChat Wednesday, September 3, 2014 – Topic

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Tim Burrows
Local Officers are making a huge difference.

Local Officers are making a huge difference.

Tonight’s Topic

“The Best Source – Local Officers”

Tonight we are going to take a look at your local police officers that are using social media and why I think they are the best source of information for a community. Questions will center around their use of platforms and how they impact you and themselves.

Officers tuning in will benefit from the perspective of how they are viewed by their community and what their community wants from them?

For the community, what a great opportunity to hear from officers on how and why they do things.

An extension of the local police officers can also be your paramedics, medics, fire personnel, officers of health….they all do a great job in adding information to the community well-being.

It’s always about learning from each other.

If you don’t know who your local officers are that are available on social media, contact your area police station and ask them. You can also google/bing/yahoo them to see if they have a presence.

Sure sounds like a sweet chat tonight doesn’t it?? Speaking of sweet…tonight’s chat is coming complete with a very special bonus.

BOLO: The Most Wanted Chocolates!

BOLO: The Most Wanted Chocolates!

Purdys Chocolatier   is offering up some tasty treats to 5 random chatters tonight. Police officers could be walking the beat while eating some treats and the community will be feeling even more sweet!

“Purdys Chocolatier is a team of Chocolate Experts inspired to take you away from the ordinary and create an extraordinary moment in your day! We never compromise quality & our customers can taste the difference. Many of our chocolates come gift wrapped in beautiful paper inspired by the season ready for giving.”

Make sure to follow Purdys Social Media Accounts to stay on top of all their goodness!

What are the #CopChat “rules”?

There are no ‘rules’ but we want this to be a good experience for everyone so here are some ideas to help.

1. The first ‘rule’ of #CopChat is we talk about #CopChat. This isn’t FightClub, we have nothing to hide.

2. If you have a blog, website or social channel that you want to share, please do so at the beginning…but we’ll ask that you don’t do any selling of products or services.  This chat is for discussion not sales. If you would like to sponsor a chat or promote your product, email me. ( timburrows1266@gmail.com )

3. There is no insulting, bullying or swearing.  If someone says something that you don’t agree with, respectfully say so and have a discussion.  That is what this is all about…learning and sharing.

4. If a subject presents itself that you may have written a piece for feel free to share at the end of the chat using the hashtag. Depending on the speed of the chat it could get lost in the stream during the middle of it and you’re less likely to get clicks during the chat.

5. If someone tweets something that you feel compelled to RT, do it! But, make it even better by adding your own flavour to it, or conversely, if you disagree, say so and provide the reason why.

6. If someone disagrees with your position take the criticism professionally…no twitter fights.  It won’t serve anyone with any value.  Take it out of the chat and have your fight without the hashtag.  No one wants to see children fight…we want to see adults chat.

7. Finally…no tweet longer apps.  Keep it under 140, no one wants to be clicking links to see the rest of your tweet. It will take people out of the conversation and probably get ignored anyways.

8. Abuse – if you choose to abuse the forum you will be blocked / muted and really what will that accomplish. We are all here to learn from each other. If you don’t like the police then say so respectfully…who knows, you might have a valid point but if it’s expressed poorly, no one will ever learn from it.

How to follow along.

Naturally, the easiest way is by using the hashtag… #CopChat

Using a dashboard platform like You will want to use TweetDeck / Hootsuite / TweetChat / Twubs etc, to follow the #CopChat.  You may also want create streams to follow @t_burrows and who ever may be co-hosting. Make sure you watch your own mentions stream so you don’t miss anything someone says to you.

Posted in Communication, Resources | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment