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Making progress….

Mark Payne

In November 2009 I posted about Police using Social media, or rather not using social media. At the time I wrote it you were more likely to see Gordon Brown performing a stand up comedy routine than you were to see a police officer on twitter.

Since that time, we have made some good progress. There are many more forces now engaged and actively participating, and lights seem to be coming on all over the place. I am regularly e-mailed by officers asking for advice on Social Media use, and encourage as many as I can to come on board. Since taking up my new job at Wolverhampton I am encouraging my officers to get involved and take the social media plunge.

I wrote the post to encourage officers to use social media to talk to and engage with the public in a different way. We will of course always make most of our contact face to face, but we cannot afford to ignore the booming social media landscape. Engaging with the public remains an excellent reason to use social media, but it is clear now that we need to be engaging for other reasons.

At protests recently, social media has been used to orchestrate and co-ordinate activity to good effect. Police have been caught on the back foot and are a long way behind the protesters. It is my view that until more police officers and senior leaders start to use the medium, we will not even begin to close the gap. You can’t expect to just turn up on the day and start successfully tweeting. Firstly nobody will be following you, so you will be merrily tweeting to yourself. Second, although it is not a difficult to use the sites, it is good to practice before you start.

Before I tweeted from the EDL protest last year, I set about speaking to people in Dudley in the weeks leading up to the event. When I tweeted on the day, I had a ready made group of local people who forwarded on my tweets, and who were able to help me reach more people.

I still encounter some limited abuse and negativity on Twitter, but the vast majority are really welcoming. On a number of occasions, people have spoken to me about real crimes I have been able to help them with, people regularly ask me for advice, which I happily give. I have been able to diffuse malicious community rumours, and offer clarity where there is confusion.

The one thing I regularly find myself having to deal with is the assertation that because I use twitter regularly, I am somehow neglecting my job, and spending all day looking at a computer screen. To any doubters out there let me offer some clarity;

I am a Superintendent in the Police. The budget for my area is around 40 million pounds. There are around 800 Police officers and staff working with me at Wolverhampton, looking to me for decisions and leadership. Last year I led and solved four murders….I am therefore actually capable of doing more than one thing at a time!

I am really encouraged by the progress we are making. I commend to anybody about to start tweeting PCSO Lee Haynes and PC Richard Stanley as excellent examples.

If you are a police officer or PCSO reading this, delay no longer. People want to talk to you, so make a start. If you are a member of the public frustrated at not being able to tweet your local officer, send an e-mail to your local Inspector asking them to get an officer tweeting. Refer them to me if they need any advice.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think…

Mark is Chief Inspector for the West Midlands Police, UK; a police officer for 15 years mainly as a detective. He is now head of Press & PR for West Midlands. CI Payne was part of the “Police Who Tweet” panel, moderated by Lauri Stevens, at the 140 Characters Conference in London on Nov 17th. Chief Inspector Payne has started his own blog, where this article was also published. He tweets as @SuptPayneWMP and @wmpolice

Social Media Handbook for Police: Part 2

some people have way too many followers...

Welcome to the second in a new series of social media tips aimed primarily at a police audience, but hopefully applicable to a wider group of people too, especially those in the public sector. This series of posts will aim to identify some good practice and useful hints and tips for police officers and staff to consider when using social media.

Part 2: How do I get followers / friends ???

One way people measure the success of Facebook and Twitter is by the number of followers, friends or ‘likes’ they have received. There are lots of ways to increase this number (see below), but first be aware that for everyone who feels strongly enough to click on that button, there will be many more who will read your updates, but not click ‘like’. Don’t be discouraged if you seem to only have a few followers- the reality is that many more people are seeing your posts than you might at first think.

Top 9 tips for getting followers:

  1. Don’t just engage online – for example why not use crime prevention visits to show people how to use Facebook, Twitter or whatever platform you are using, link them to your profile, and other relevant pages (obviously ask first!
  2. Similarly use your normal promnotional material for your neighbourhood policing team (posters, business cards etc) to publicise your pages. Point out to people that they can now get updates on Twitter.
  3. Provide useful content – just sending out press releases is dull, dull, dull! Think about what you are trying to do, and what will interest your audience. Most of this should relate to policing, but it is ok to post other relevant stuff occasionally too, such as links to local events etc.
  4. Ask questions and provide answers to others questions. The big thing about social media is the two way, conversational factor. Use this to ask questions, and get people talking about policing issues that affect them.
  5. Ask people to follow or like your page. Often overlooked, but simply asking people to follow you (whether online or offline) will usually get results.

    6. Use a photo and a biography

  6. Be personal – include a bio and photos. I rarely follow someone on Twitter who hasn’t bothered to post up a bio. On Facebook and Twitter a photograph goes a long way to show that there is a real person on the end. In some cases a corporate logo might be appropriate…but even then photos of the team who are working in that area can be added as well.
  7. Start by listening to other conversations and engage in conversations that are relevant to policing. People like someone who shares and converses with them, and are more likley to follow you back. This is true on other websites as well – just leave a link back to your Facebook / Twitter or whatever page.
  8. Think about the language you use (it should be professional, but friendly not press release style).
  9. Be patient! It can take some time to build up a significant number of followers. Don’t be discouraged after a few months if numbers are still low. Keep at it.

And why only 9 tips, not the more normal 10? Because I am hoping that some of you will add your tips in the comments to improve this post further!

This post was previously published on Partrdigej’s blog.

Previous posts from the Social Media Handbook Series:Part 1: What Social Media networks should I use?

Justin Partridge

Justin Partridge is a senior manager for Lincolnshire Police in England. He also works on Local Policing and Partnerships for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Justin Partridge has worked in the public sector since leaving university, and for the police since 2003. After being one of only three non-sworn staff selected for the prestigious Police Strategic Command Course (for those who aspire to the most senior posts in UK policing), he started working on the national Local Policing and Partnerships area with chief officers from across the UK, and with partners from the Home Office, NPIA, APA and elsewhere.

Justin is passionate about making a difference to people, and see social media and new technologies having a major role in this – especially in policing and the wider public sector. He blogs on a variety of issues, predominantly around police and technology, and can be found on Twitter talking about much the same.

Social Media Handbook for Police: Part 1

Welcome to a new series of social media tips aimed primarily at a police audience, but hopefully applicable to a wider group of people too, especially those in the public sector. This series of posts will aim to identify some good practice and useful hints and tips for police officers and staff to consider when using social media.

Part 1: What Social Media networks should I use?

There is some confusion amongst people new to social media about where to start. Is Twitter better than Facebook? What is LinkedIn? Wasn’t Bebo or MySpace a really big thing a while ago? Does anyone still use Friends Reunited?

In choosing what social media platform to start working with there are a few key pointers to bear in mind.

  1. Any choice you make now may well be out of date in a few weeks / months / years. This is a fast moving area – Twitter is only five years old after all! Have a look at the other people using that network and see if they are the sort of people you are trying to reach. Each of the current big three have different audiences.
  2. Facebook is by far the largest, and has mainly social content. This can be a good place to start for policing as you should get a relatively large audience, and you can easily add pictures, video, audio and links to other useful web sites. Bear in mind that other people can post things on ‘your’ page however, which may cause you some issues. Check out PSNIArds for a good example of police use.
  3. LinkedIn is a business networking tool in the main, and has far less of the social element. It can be a good place to consider if you are looking to identify local businesses for example.
  4. Twitter is best for rapid real time updates. It has a limit of 140 characters per update, and posting links and pictures etc is more complex than other sites, but this does mean content is quick and easy to digest, and more conversational than other sites. This can allow a conversation to develop between police and public – See PC Ed Rogerson for a good use of this technique.
  5. You can use more than one platform at the same time. Posting from Twitter to Facebook for example can be done automatically once the accounts are linked simply by adding#fb to the end of a Tweet. Many social media sites provide similar links.
  6. Think wider than the big three (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) – there are loads of other sites out there that have big user groups. If you are looking for a certain demographic, find out what sites they tend to use, and join in the conversations there.
  7. Be innovative in your use of websites. Photography site Flick’r allows users to post up their photographs. GMP have used this to their advantage, loading up lots of official pictures, with captions explaining what they are of, and providing links to their corporate website. Flick’r is now one of the main drivers of traffic to their official website.

The final tip is to use social media to ask others for advice. Not sure of the best social media network to use to reach the Chinese or Russian community?* Ask your followers on Twitter. Someone out there will have the answer.

*The answer is probably RenRen and Kontakte respectively.

Got a good example of police use of other social media sites? Post up a comment.

This post was previously published on Partrdigej’s blog.

Justin Partridge

Justin Partridge is a senior manager for Lincolnshire Police in England. He also works on Local Policing and Partnerships for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Justin Partridge has worked in the public sector since leaving university, and for the police since 2003. After being one of only three non-sworn staff selected for the prestigious Police Strategic Command Course (for those who aspire to the most senior posts in UK policing), he started working on the national Local Policing and Partnerships area with chief officers from across the UK, and with partners from the Home Office, NPIA, APA and elsewhere.

Justin is passionate about making a difference to people, and see social media and new technologies having a major role in this – especially in policing and the wider public sector. He blogs on a variety of issues, predominantly around police and technology, and can be found on Twitter talking about much the same.

From Internet to Interoperability: New UCLA Research to Benefit Public Safety Agencies

As a former police officer with the LAPD, watching the television footage of Japan struggling to emerge from the triple disaster of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant malfunctions strikes close to home and serves as a sober reminder about the importance of an interoperable communications system for first responders.

Now that the FCC has decided that all 700 MHz public safety mobile broadband networks must use Long Term Evolution (LTE), cutting-edge technology can be used to protect the public.

As the skeletal frames of a national public safety network begin to take shape, public safety will benefit from some of the best minds in the field – including researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

UCLA has recently announced that the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science is establishing a partnership with Raytheon to create the UCLA Center for Public Safety Network Systems. This center will help lead the way in the innovation and advancement of public safety technologies and standards. As the center’s first funder, Raytheon will provide a research grant of $1 million over three years.

Without question, the public safety field will benefit from UCLA’s extensive network experience. The university’s depth of knowledge in networking technology is unparalleled as it holds the enviable claim to history of being the birthplace of the Internet. UCLA engineering students and facility have also contributed to some of the biggest technological advancements in the last century, from blueprints for establishing a space station in the 1950s to the world’s first reverse osmosis plant and hybrid gas-electric vehicles.

With its prestigious reputation and first-rate research facilities, the UCLA Center for Public Safety Network Systems will attract leading experts across academia, industry and public safety agencies who will study open architecture options, broadband applications and standards-based systems of communications. This research, in turn, will complement any research and development that’s being conducted by corporations. For example, researchers at corporate R&D departments like Raytheon’s new Public Safety Regional Technology Center, which is opening in Los Angeles County this summer, will easily be able to tap into the findings at the UCLA center.

Perhaps the UCLA Center for Public Safety Network Systems’ most important function will be to serve as a neutral space for assessing products and networks, and establishing industry standards. For public safety, the next step is an integrated LTE communications network. As we enter this new phase, companies, researchers and public safety officials will all benefit from research that places the safety and interests of citizens first.

Gordon Scobbie @DCCTayside Joins ConnectedCOPS

Gordon Scobbie

Welcome to my first blogpost for ConnectedCOPS. I am the Deputy Chief Constable of Tayside police in Scotland and I will be blogging here regularly on all things social media and digital engagement. As with most blogs, the views expressed are my thoughts and not necessarily those of Tayside Police.

So what do I have to say and why me? Well, I lead for UK policing on all things connected to social media and have a particular interest in how we can use the web to enhance our engagement with communities. I’ve been interested in this work for a little over 2 years and have been working hard to effect change at the strategic level in the police service in this area. I have been supported by a number of key individuals in the UK, such as Nick Keane and Justin Partridge, and we have slowly changed the mindset of a number of strategic leaders in the service…..but there is still much to do!!

I met Lauri Stevens at a ‘Twitter’ event some 2 years ago and have worked with her since. She has been a great help in terms of connecting people within the policing and law enforcement arenas and continues to challenge and develop my thinking in this space. I am really looking forward to speaking at the SMILE Conference in Chicago in May at Lauri’s invitation.

At the conference, I hope to say something about the journey UK policing has been on in terms of social media and the use of the web 2.0, from a standing start to widespread but uncoordinated use within policing. I will chart how the use of technology has challenged existing ways of working, both internally and externally, and how we might further exploit the use of technology as budgets and forces shrink in size and we need to think differently about how certain services can be delivered in the future.

Those of you who follow UK politics might be aware of the UK Prime Ministers vision of the ‘Big Society’ to replace Big Government. Whilst this idea has often been difficult to articulate there is certainly a movement towards greater involvement of the public in the design and delivery of public services (co production) and of increasing interest in the role of social enterprise and social entrepreneurs. The police and others in the public sector have an opportunity to use the web and social media to tap into this movement and act more as facilitators rather than service providers to build on the huge capacity that already exists within communities themselves. This requires a shift in the mindset away from controlling everything to working in a more collaborative way with partners and the public. This is exactly the kind of mindset which already exists within the online community and is often the reason why the police find it difficult to fully engage, since traditionally they are more comfortable in a command and control environment which is much more precise and less fluid. The challenge as I see it for police leadership is to be more at ease with ambiguity and collaborative way of working so we can truly maximise the potential of the new and emerging dynamics of community engagement, service design and service delivery.

On Friday 18th March I have set up a strategic visioning day for the police service on the future impact of the web and social media. This is being hosted and facilitated by Google at their London HQ. This will be attended by a small select group of strategic thinkers and I am really looking forward to developing fresh ideas and strategies for the service in this fast moving area.

I will update you on the outcome of this event in my next ConnectedCOPS blogpost.

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