Did you know that 76% of survivors of natural disasters use social media to let their friends know they’re safe? You can find more interesting facts about social media’s role in the wake of a natural disaster, including Sandy, in the following infographic developed by University of San Francisco’s Masters of Public Administration department. The infographic was most recently used in a congressional hearing shown on C-SPAN, demonstrating the importance of social media in a natural disaster.
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Category: EmergComms
A first in the UK for West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police made Press Conference history in the United Kingdom today LIVE at YouTube. For the UK, it’s the first time a police force has streamed a live press conference seeking a suspect or witness in an ongoing investigation.
In a Google world where fast is better than slow (on the web or in catching a murder), anyone can become their own media company.
According to YouTube and Magid and Associates, 25-45% of all videos viewed at YouTube are on mobile. So, creating a press conference that streams straight to someone’s pocket is sensible.
However, 67% of those mobiles views are at home (in the lounge or the bedroom) as a second screen. That means, a person is sitting in the same room as a switched on TV, but uses the mobile too.
What is happening at YouTube on their lap will not reach TV until a few hours or even half a day later.
This screen capture shows how Google favours a LIVE Video and rewards that in Search. We also have a few new features with Google+ Hangouts like a LIVE Rewind button that gives the audience complete control.
So, if you arrive at the LIVE feeds a few minutes late, one click restarts the broadcast (similar to sky or cable TV). Another click and you are LIVE again. As you drag the slider, mini thumbnails appear giving you a visual clue on what you have missed (TV does not do this).
We can also see YouTube generates a snapshot of the broadcast and places that at the YouTube LIVE page giving you an instant glimpse in the program.
Finally, this is free. Anyone can do this. Feel free to ask me how to get started.
In Canada, Constable Scott Mills of the Toronto Police Service uses backpack journalism to stream similar press conferences and reports from the street. We also have Kerry Blakeman from +West Midlands Police already using LIVE at YouTube with more planned broadcasts this month.
Constable Mills has lead the effort at Toronto Police to broadcast live from the scene of a homicide, and when Dean Wichar was arrested for the John Raposa murder, he broadcast from the lobby of Toronto’s 51 Division in the evening with an Internet signal tethered from a print media reporter’s iPhone.
Let me leave you with the Press Conference as it happened and the accompanying CCTV video of a man and a vehicle.
Editor’s Note: The officer in the following videos is Superintendent Mark Payne of the West Midlands Police. He has keynoted at The SMILE Conference and has written several articles on this blog.
Mike Downes – Teacher, Broadcaster, Google+ Hangout Specialist
After spending fifteen years as a school teacher, Mike moved to local media by starting whatsinKenilworth.com in April 2010. After getting noticed by mainstream media (by blogging about Library closures and local Policing), Google+ opened in June 2011 allowing a whole new experience. Mike quickly saw Hangouts as a realtime video tool that connected people. Anoek Eckhardt, Communications and Public Affairs Manager at Google said: “Mike is a great ambassador for Google+. His interaction with thousands of people from across the world to share knowledge, advice and learn together highlights the collaborative power of Google+.
- May, 2
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- EmergComms, Google+, SM Tools, SM Use
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Social Media Quick Tip: Managing the message in an emergency
During an emergency situation, ensure that the social media message is delivered through one source
Editor’s note: The SMILE (Social Media, the Internet and Law Enforcement) Conference provides officers with all the technical hands-on skills and the practical knowledge to utlitze social media platforms for public outreach, crime prevention and forensics. The conference is a great opportunity for those involved in social media efforts to share suggestions and stories on this ever-changing topic. Below you will find social media tips from one of the speakers at the conference.
The use of social media and policing isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. Today’s police need to adapt and utilize social media in order to stay in touch with today’s online community, as well as make themselves available.
The use of social media during emergency management situations, whether it be natural disaster, large scale demonstration, terrorist attack or simply everyday emergency calls by front line police, need to be managed and monitored by policing agencies. The usage of social media during these situations not only alerts the public as to where they can get help, but also where they can locate loved ones, how to report and how to prevent disasters.
In order to do this effectively, the most important thing I can suggest is during an emergency situation, ensure that the message is delivered through one source. Too many sources can cause confusion with the message and potentially cause a broken telephone effect. Ensure the information that you want delivered is being delivered, and that your message is being heard.
Constable Nathan Dayler has been employed as a police officer for the Toronto Police Service for 10 years. Nathan’s current assignment is a full time Tactical Trainer for the Public Safety and Emergency Management Unit of the Toronto Police specifically the Crowd Management Section. Nathan is also the Social Media representative for the Toronto Police Public Order Section and was a member of the Social Media Workgroup for the Toronto Police Service. Previously, Nathan spent five years with the Sex Crimes Unit working as an Online Undercover officer within the Child Exploitation Unit, as well as with the Special Victims Section.
- September, 24
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- EmergComms, QuickTips, SM Use
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Social Media Quick Tip: Be the official source of information in a crisis
If you aren’t already on social media when a crisis hits, there’s a whole conversation that’s happening without you & you can’t afford not to be listening & participating
Editor’s note: The SMILE (Social Media, the Internet and Law Enforcement) Conference provides officers with all the technical hands-on skills and the practical knowledge to utlitze social media platforms for public outreach, crime prevention and forensics. The conference is a great opportunity for those involved in social media efforts to share suggestions and stories on this ever-changing topic. Below you will find social media tips from one of the speakers at the conference.
1. If you’re already on social media, you likely already know who your influencers and detractors are. Your influencers are the people that follow or “like” you that have a large following and tend to re-tweet your messages or make positive comments on your posts. Your detractors are those that continually counteract your social media efforts through negative or harmful comments. Keep track of both groups and keep a list of them handy. In a crisis situation, you’ll want to reach out to your influencers to increase the reach of your messaging. You’ll also want to monitor your detractors to ensure they aren’t sabotaging your communication efforts.
2. If you’re a police agency, people on social media are talking about you. If you aren’t already on social media when a crisis hits, there’s a whole conversation that’s happening without you and you can’t afford not to be listening and participating. In a crisis, social media is becoming the primary place where people go to look for information, and if you aren’t there putting out official messaging, someone else will do it for you–and their information may not be accurate. Be the official source of information in a crisis by building your audience and credibility when the waters are calm. Prep your key messages (think 140 characters or less!) and have a crisis communication plan so you can make it through the storm unscathed.
Stephanie Mackenzie-Smith is the Corporate Communications Supervisor at York Regional Police in Ontario where she is responsible for the branding, marketing and online strategy of the 2,000 member police service. Her role includes strategic communications planning and the development of crisis communication plans, best practices documents and standard operating procedures as they relate to social media. She also teaches Media Relations Officers and Public Information Officers on social media use at the Ontario Police College and regularly presents on social media policy, procedure and misconduct. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Ryerson University.
- September, 18
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- EmergComms, QuickTips, SM Use
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CCSO Website Turns Into Storm Central When Weather Threatens
Karie Partington is the Public Affairs Manager at the CCSO
The corporate world is known for using dark websites as a crisis management tool, but the Collier County Sheriff’s Office has developed one specially designed to be a community resource during major storm events.
A ‘dark site’ is a pre-prepared and ready-to-publish site to facilitate information sharing in the event of a crisis or emergency. In this case, the emergency was the growing and rapidly approaching Tropical Storm Isaac.
“I felt it was important to provide our community with comprehensive news and information that would help them not only prepare for the storm and track its approach, but also be a resource afterward by providing specifics about storm damage,” said Sheriff Kevin Rambosk.
Sheriff Rambosk said the website is the first of its kind in Southwest Florida, and possibly the state.
While Isaac ended up tracking westward of Collier County and having a minimal impact locally, it provided the agency with an opportunity to put its dark site to the test.
The site, www.colliersheriff.org, offered a live Isaac Tracker through The Weather Channel and weather updates including a map of current weather conditions through www.accuweather.com. There were links to state and local storm-related resources, including the Collier County Emergency Management website and the National Hurricane Center website.
Visitors could also watch CCSO videos about hurricane preparedness and see educational information, including the proper procedures when traffic signals aren’t functioning. The site also offered contact information for area cable, telephone and electricity providers as a resource for citizens needing to report outages.
A customized Google map displayed the six storm shelters that were activated. Had the community received damage, that information, along with road closures and power outages, would have been mapped as well.
Following any major storm event, deputies are among the first people to go out in the weather. CCSO deputies were prepared to shoot photos and video clips of damaged areas as soon as it was safe to deploy into neighborhoods and e-mail them to the agency’s Public Affairs staff to be shared with the community quickly.
Quick access to photos and videos and maps of affected areas is particularly critical in Collier County because hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, when many property owners are up north. Thanks to the photos, videos and maps of damaged areas, finding accurate information on how their neighborhood fared during the storm is as simple as visiting www.colliersheriff.org.
Importantly, site visitors were still able to reach the agency’s standard website and all of its content via a handy button on the home page. Other buttons provided access to the agency’s Facebook and Twitter pages and its video site, www.ccso.tv.
The site was taken down after Isaac passed Southwest Florida, but it will be activated again the next time a major storm threatens Collier County.
- August, 29
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- Case Studies, EmergComms, SM Use
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