The vision behind ConnectedCOPS is to enhance law officers’ ability to succeed with social media tools by providing insight, encouragement, education and the overall support required. It is also to promote the insightful thoughts of the law enforcement social media visionaries by providing them a voice on this blog.
ConnectedCOPS was founded by Lauri Stevens of LAwS Communications. In August of 2010, Michael Vallez joined ConnectedCOPS as a partner and now writes regularly for the blog. ConnectedCOPS also welcomes the regular posts of the contributors listed on the Writers page, as well as guest posts. If you would like to contribute to this blog, please contact Lauri directly.
Lauri Stevens
![View Lauri Stevens (lauri @ lawscomm [dot] net)'s profile on LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/img/webpromo/btn_myprofile_160x33.png){kind=small}
Lauri Stevens is the principal consultant with and founder of LAwS Communications. Lauri is also the creator and producer of The SMILE Conference™. She is an interactive media professional with over 25 years of media experience and is credentialed by the International Social Media Association as a Certified Social Media Strategist.
Previously, she was the Department Chair of Web Design & Interactive Media at The New England Institute of Art (NEiA) in Boston, a position she held for eleven years. During her tenure at NEiA she wrote several bachelor degree programs, served on NEASC accreditation review committees and visiting teams, and chaired several groups to further the college’s mission. Prior to academia, her professional career included high-tech market research, interactive software development, and 14 years as a television and radio journalist.
Lauri is passionate about the Internet, the web, social media and is commited helping law enforcement leverage these tools to help them do their jobs, connect with their communities, and promote their departments and investigate and solve crime.
She is also the Social Media & Law Enforcement “expert contributor” to PoliceOne.com.
She holds an MBA in eBusiness from Bentley University, an MS in Mass Communication/Communication Technology from Boston University, and a BA in Political Science from Clemson University.
Her professional memberships include:
PERF – Police Executive Research Forum
IACP – The International Association of Chiefs of Police
NSA – National Sheriffs Association
PFI – Police Futurists International
ILEETA – International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association
MITX – Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange
[...] account: @TrafficServices. Sgt. Burrows “gets” how to use twitter. He contributes to other blogs, and speaks about social media at conferences as well. Burrows uses Twitter to share traffic [...]
[...] thought leaders in the world of law enforcement and social media, Christa Miller and Lauri Stevens, both recently published articles about other, often-overlooked, tools that can add value to your [...]