Is your police department on social media? If your answer is “no”, stop what you’re doing, grab some help, and create a Facebook page for your department. If your answer is “yes”, are you—as a manager—part of that social media strategy?
Social media is an ever-growing place where the majority of Americans seek information, get their news, take mental breaks, etc. According to the Pew Research Center, 68 percent of all U.S. adults are Facebook users, while 28 percent use Instagram and 21 percent use Twitter.
Certainly for law enforcement social media has had its challenges, but it is also a place where many agencies have gone to strengthen community relationships, increase transparency and humanize law enforcement officers, among other things.
One famous example of the positive power of social media comes from Palo Alto, CA. In 2015, the Palo Alto Police Department launched the community outreach social media campaign #CopsLoveLemonadeStands in which the department asked community members to let them know if their children were planning on having a lemonade stand. Within the first week their officers received 20 requests from the community, reports the California Police Chiefs Association. The police department then posted photos of officers visiting the lemonade stands, using the hashtag above. The campaign garnered so much positive attention that it spread throughout many California agencies as well as several other states.
And there are many more stories like that one—stories in which police departments use social media to humanize their officers and connect with the community. Finding content to promote on social media isn’t as hard as it may seem either, says Kristy Dalton, CEO of Government Social Media. In a recent webinar held by Officer.com, Dalton mentioned, “You do good things in the community every single day. And as long as you have video…you have content to share on social media. You have content to share that is meaningful to citizens whether you know it or not.”
As a law enforcement manager, it’s important to participate in your department’s social media strategy. One way I have seen chiefs do this is through their own blog. I follow several blogs from police chiefs around the country—Wisconsin, Kansas, Florida and Michigan to name a few. These blogs vary in their publication. While some chiefs post two or three times per month, others are published once every other month or every few weeks. But they are all written in an effort to increase transparency and connect with community members. What I have found when reading these blogs is that their publication, like the Facebook posts of officers at lemonade stands, humanizes not only the chief but the department as well.
It may be daunting to add another task to your ‘to-do’ list, but if you’re looking for a way increase the department’s relationship with the public, delve a little more into social media and determine how it can work for you. If you’re a police chief who blogs, feel free to share your blog with me at [email protected].
Stay safe!
Adrienne
To listen to Officer.com’s webinar “Community Policing and Social Media: Industry Trends”, visit Officer.com/12317458.
