When Deputy Mark Gregory set out to launch a social media presence for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, he knew he was bound to face a few obstacles. Like any law enforcement agency posting communications on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, he would need to justify the usage of each site to his internal team, and create a plan for how citizen’s comments and replies were managed. He would need internal and external social media policies to address issues such as employee use, comment moderation, and the need to maintain compliance with government requirements such as the Washington Public Records Act. Regardless, Mark knew that it was essential to move forward. As he explained, “It’s a very important tool for law enforcement agencies. We must be able to openly communicate with the citizens we serve and social media is one of the most effective ways we can do that.”