For over 20 years, social media has become a mainstay in most daily routines. With the reach of social media, law enforcement should use the technology to its full potential and benefit. Social media can be used as an investigative tool to ask the public for help, to share public safety information and agency initiatives, and to strengthen community bonds and trust.
Even if your agency only uses social media infrequently, there are benefits of social media that can enhance public safety. A 2016 survey of law enforcement agencies showed that 91% of agencies surveyed used social media to notify the community of public safety concerns. As those ties strengthen, so does trust in the agency. Regularly sharing useful information and posts showing the agency as part of the community will increase trust, grow the social following, and increase overall positive sentiment.
Social Media as an Investigative Tool
Many agencies use social media as part of their investigative tool kit. Agencies may contract with vendors to use software to monitor keyword phrases and gather information in near real-time. The technology can determine the increase in keywords, track post locations, and determine the sentiment or feelings of the public shared in the posts. Social media software can look for photos or videos from crime scenes of investigative use and even track networks for contacts, friends, and family of persons of interest.
Gathering intelligence using social media is not specifically regulated at the Federal level. Still, legal cases in the courts now will impact what individuals working in law enforcement can post on their channels and what each agency can post on social media. Agencies must ensure proper procedures are used to obtain restricted or private information, including subpoenas and search warrants. However, investigators have found great value in publicly accessible social media information like demographic data, geographic locations, posts, and follower accounts.
Leveraging Social Media
Social media can be leveraged as part of the new form of community-based policing. Users are just as prevalent in rural areas as urban, so any agency, even smaller ones, can use social media effectively and to their benefit.
- Asking the public for help - sharing missing person flyers, asking for help identifying suspects,
- Alerts and public service announcements - quickly share road closures, pertinent safety information, and situation updates in near real-time both to the community and local media simultaneously.
- Community outreach - post upcoming community events, like ‘Coffee with a Cop,’ safety expos, and more.
- Recognition, promoting initiatives and projects - posts about new programs, initiatives, crime prevention efforts, partnerships, and more can be beneficial to inform the community. Sharing investigative successes, positive stories of helping the community, and other information may be interesting, build trust, and show transparency.
- Recruiting tool - advertising job openings, showing behind-the-scenes images and videos that show what the agency does, and opening the doors inside the agency through digital tours and day-in-the-life stories may entice younger applicants who live much of their lives online through social media.
Social Media Considerations
Choosing which social media channels to post is only part of leveraging social media. A 2019 considerations policy document shared by the International Association of Chiefs of Police notes that every law enforcement agency using social media should understand what social channels work best for their needs, develop policies, and make sure the staff posting to the channels understands the agency’s goals with social media.
- Strategy - what does your community want, need, and expect from your agency? What tone of voice and communication would work best with your intended audience?
- Training - ensure those posting to your agency’s social media channels have the training to know when and what to communicate, following public information guidelines and privacy laws surrounding investigative information and images.
- Building community - online community building requires monitoring agency channels for comments and ways to engage followers positively while growing the community. Determining which hashtags to follow to stay aware of community events and knowing which community groups and individual accounts to follow.
- Content and consistency - posting regularly along with monitoring the account frequently. Knowing the type of content that resonates with your community to grow engagement. Consistency leads to public trust through continued engagement and information sharing.
- Legal concerns - including a note in the agency’s profile to make followers aware the channels are not monitored 24/7 and to contact 911 for emergencies, working with agency legal to develop terms of service and any legal disclaimers along with privacy settings.
Positive Aspects of Social Media
Social media has proven effective in helping locate missing persons. Identifying persons of interest through social media can also provide results. Timely alerts to the public, like road closures, weather emergencies, special events, and critical incidents, are beneficial and increase public trust. Local media can also use an agency’s social media to gain information on situations to share with a wider audience, ensuring the correct information is shared.
Social platforms can also promote community outreach and engagement by answering posted questions, providing crime data, sharing crime prevention tips, and asking for information on unsolved crimes. The agency's consistent posting on social media increases public trust and transparency within the community, highlighting the importance and positives of the work by law enforcement in their community. Supportive communities like that can provide help within their community and to law enforcement directly.
