UPDATE 1:18pm…see bottom of post
If you’ve been following along with the Brimfield Police Department and their former Chief, David Oliver, you know that things have changed in OH-IO.
Gone is Chief Oliver, as are the police department’s Facebook and Twitter accounts despite what their website is showing. It got me to thinking…is this damage control or ownership control? Either way, when you consider a Facebook account that was the second most liked police department page in the United States has just disappeared, then a great voice has been lost…and I don’t mean the Chief’s.
Chief Oliver built a cult following with his simple, straight forward, no BS, “Crazy Cousins” talk that many experts have held as an example of community outreach and a model follow, while other (including myself) have often said that what the Chief did in Brimfield worked great in Brimfield but doubt it would work in many other places for many other people. In the end, it might not have even worked in the long-term in Brimfield Ohio.
Now, it’s gone…it’s all gone. 
Sure, you can still hear the Chief’s voice mail recording and email address, but that’s about it. Click on the Twitter Feed on their website and you get an even less friendly notice…
What can we learn from Brimfield?
Who controls an account that is created under the name of a police officer / agency and is it protected if anything negative happens requiring access to the account.
I’m not saying that Chief Oliver took the accounts down. It may very well be a case of Brimfield Township taking a torpedo to the accounts until a decision is made on moving forward.
According to this news report, it is the police department that shut down the accounts. http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/oh-portage/brimfield-police-delete-social-media-accounts-following-chiefs-retirement
Why would you want to toast that kind of reach Brimfield had on its Facebook Page?
Meanwhile…if you miss Chief Oliver, check out some of his greatest hits here in this collection from the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/police-chief-david-oliver/
UPDATE 1:18pm
@T_Burrows this article explains a little more why http://t.co/SLJl88tUKq
— Corey Lambrecht (@CoreyLambrecht) January 19, 2015
Apparently a war was brewing between supporters and detractors of Chief Oliver and the sites were scuttled as a temporary measure.
Thanks @CoreyLambrecht for the awesome link!
Have you registered for our Facebook Settings For Professionals Webinar?
Looking for more tips, tricks and ways to improve your social media presence? Register here for a free webinar on Tuesday, January 20th at 1:30 for Facebook settings for first responders.
http://www.onlinemeetingnow.com/register/?id=n0aqst8byi
