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U.S. Researcher Focusing on Law Enforcement Use of Twitter

Thomas Heverin

Today, ConnectedCOPS is spotlighting a researcher who is studying law enforcement agencies’ use of Twitter. Thomas Heverin hails from the College of Information Science & Technology, Drexel University, based in Philadelphia, PA – USA. He is a Ph.D. student in Information Science who has conducted studies on the public’s use of Twitter during a violent crisis and on U.S. city police departments’ use of Twitter. He also served several years as Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy. He happily agreed to do an interview with us.

Can you describe some of the research that you have done?
Earlier this year, I authored a paper with Dr. Lisl Zach, also from Drexel University, about the use of Twitter in response to a violent attack in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington State. When four Lakewood police officers were killed, we found that members of the public used Twitter as one method for disseminating information about the shooting and the 48-hour search for the suspect. We analyzed the thousands of Tweets sent with a specific hashtag: #washooting. By following the hashtag, we collected a continuous stream of messages about the event. In addition to sharing information, Twitter was also used to voice opinions, display emotions, share personal information about the fallen officers, and show support for law enforcement. We noticed minimal participation from official agencies on Twitter during this crisis.

During the WA shooting incident, what did you observe regarding dissemination of info in that incident via Twitter vs traditional media?
Twitter provided a means for individuals to discuss the information that was being disseminated and provided a way for individuals to collaborate in real time. For example, some Twitterers would question the sources of others and ask for more information. In other instances, individuals would team up and divide the task of monitoring different information sources. We also observed some members of the public emerging as key informants. These individuals were sometimes close to the police activity or monitored emergency radio channels and shared the information as soon as they heard something new. It seemed like citizens became journalists.

What projects are you working on now?
Currently we are interviewing representatives from various city police departments to determine the reasons for adopting or not adopting Twitter and other social media tools for communicating with the public. Preliminary results show that one main reason for adopting Twitter is to send information directly to the public as opposed to going through other channels. Once the interviews are completed and the data is analyzed, the results will be published in a book chapter.
In recent paper, Dr. Zach and I conducted a study on the use of Twitter by police departments from large U.S. cities. We found that police departments from these cities, primarily use Twitter to disseminate crime and incident related information. We also found that most police departments do not use Twitter to converse back and forth with the public. A select number of the city police departments do initiate conversations with the public, reply to questions, retweet others’ tweets, and follow the Twitter feeds of members of the public.

Do you have any insight for why only a small number of city police departments use Twitter to converse back and forth with the public?
From preliminary interviews with representatives from police departments, we are finding various reasons for not using Twitter to hold two-way conversations with the public. Some departments use Facebook to hold two-way conversations. Other departments feel like there is not enough time to monitor what individuals are saying on Twitter. Other departments tie Nixle to their Twitter accounts and use it just for disseminating information. Many police departments mentioned their desire to do more with social media.

Any future plans for research?
Our research on law enforcement use of Twitter has only focused on large U.S. cities. In the future, we may expand our reach to smaller cities as well as different types of law enforcement agencies including state police and possibly federal agencies.

What are your career plans once you complete your PhD?
After completing my Ph.D., I want to continue to do research on the technologies used by law enforcement agencies for communicating with the public and for disseminating information. I am also interested in researching the public’s views on law enforcement’s use of social media for these purposes. Ideally, I would like to work as a professor at a university or for a government agency.

More information
If you want to read more about Thomas’ research check his website: http://www.thomasheverin.com/ . While, completing his PhD studies, Thomas also works at Temple University as a physical science librarian. Follow Thomas on Twitter @tjheverin

Cyberbullying Woes Require Attention, Action

Cyberbullying occurs when someone is threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another person over the Internet, cell phones or other electronic devices. Research suggests that as many as 25 percent of children in the United States report have been subjected to cyberbullying. It can occur as a direct attack or by proxy. Direct attacks are messages sent directly to victim, whereas cyberbullying by proxy involves getting others to help with the bullying.

Cyberbullying includes playing tricks by pretending to be someone else, spreading rumors, forwarding malicious electronic messages, posting sexually explicit pictures or messages (sexting) without the consent of the targeted person. Many times, teens who cyberbully don’t think it’s a big deal. They are frequently encouraged by their friends who also think it’s just fun. They don’t expect to get caught or face any consequences for their actions.

Although it is difficult for school administrators and school resource officers (SROs) to successfully discipline students for cyberbullying that takes place off campus without being sued for exceeding their authority and violating the students’ rights, it is possible for schools to work together with law enforcement, students, parents and staff to address cyberbullying.

Local law enforcement and school resource officers (SROs) should become aware of these occurrences and address them proactively to prevent more dire situations that can result from cyberbullying such as suicides, retaliation or other acts of violence.

Here are a few keys to combating cyber bullying in your area:

  1. Educate – Students need to understand that cyberbullying IS a crime. After all, the acts that fall under the traditional definition of bullying are often prosecuted as harassment, theft, and assault. Many of the consequences are the same and cyberbullying can be just as harmful as some of these offenses. Once students start to think of cyberbullying as a crime, it may deter participation.
  2. Keep your eyes open – Law enforcement should take the initiative to talk with administration, staff and parents to help identify and address cases of cyberbullying early. Often, parents are not even aware of how their child may be using the home computer or their cell phone. It is the parents’ job to monitor their kids and to help thwart this kind of activity. School staff can report suspected incidences to SROs, giving them leads to investigate and the ability to intervene early.
  3. Open door policy – The school should maintain an “open door policy,” encouraging students to report abuses, whether they are the ones being bullied or they are aware of an incident. This is a great way for school administrators, SROs and, if warranted, law enforcement to become aware of cyberbullying activities and also enables them to intervene before situations escalate.
  4. Leverage social media – Depending on the social media site and the situation, SROs can open accounts under an alias to help monitor online activities. This is another way to increase awareness of cyberbullying activities.

With a proactive approach, cyberbullying can be addressed and minimized. There are resources available to assist students, schools and parents with this pervasive issue. The Cyberbullying Research Center is dedicated to providing up-to-date information about the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyberbullying among adolescents. The important thing is to take a proactive stance.

About the authors:

Rosalind Jackson

ROSALIND W. JACKSON is owner of Train Intervene PreventT, a consulting business that caters to proactive organizations focusing on workplace violence prevention strategies. She is production manager for the Security Executive Council, an organization that provides strategy, insight and resources to risk mitigation decision makers, and also serves as a source of information and support in matters involving workplace violence. Jackson can be reached at tiprevent@bellsouth.net.

Jeff Floreno

JEFF FLORENO serves as director of security operations and strategy for Wren, providers of physical security solutions that create safe learning environments. Floreno directs new product development efforts and provides security expertise to Wren’s education customers. Floreno can be reached at jeff.floreno@wrensolutions.com. To learn more about Wren’s solutions, visit www.wrensolutions.com.

This article was also published on Wren’ School Safety Blog.

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4 Reasons Why Police Don’t Talk Back On Twitter

Being a former police officer I am kind of baffled why law enforcement is failing to build community via Twitter.  I have been following numerous law enforcement agencies over the past year and they Tweet out information, which is informative, but there is no two-way Tweeting. What is lacking is the community building opportunity that law enforcement has laid at their feet via Twitter.

So why isn’t law enforcement embracing Twitter to build community? Here are 4 reasons why Twitter is leery to engage in two-way Tweeting. Not all of law enforcement is missing the opportunity to build community on Twitter, but overall most law enforcement agencies are missing the mark and here is why.

1) Legal Worries – Law enforcement is worried that Tweeting could be official statements that can come back to haunt them. Therefore they only push out factual information relating to crimes, crime prevention, etc. They apparently don’t trust their own officers to Tweet officially, but they give them guns?

2) Skepticism – I feel most police agencies are on Twitter only because other police agencies are Tweeting. Overall, law enforcement does not trust Twitter as a way to communicate with their shareholders or citizen residents. Police don’t trust much, that is the nature of the job, but Tweeting is the same as talking only you are doing it on a computer. It really is not much more complicated than that.

3) Financial Reasons – Probably the most common reason police are not building community through Twitter is due to financial reasons. The cost to have a police officer Tweeting is probably unrealistic in this day of budget cuts and crime. However, in more progressive departments there are ways to use Twitter without huge financial burden, think outside the box.

4) Lack of Value – Another reason law enforcement has not embraced Twitter other than a one-way communication channel is the lack of perceived value of participating on Twitter.  This is probably largely due to a lack of basic understanding of how Twitter works.

Now here are 4 reasons why law enforcement needs to deepen their participation on Twitter.

1) Community – Police have a great opportunity to build a community around their Twitter following. Reaching out to folks on Twitter broadens their reach, introduces them to local Twitter followers, etc.  This could be seen as virtual community policing. Getting the cops where the people are, online.

2) Communication Power House – Twitter has a huge reach and getting others to re-Tweet you usually comes only as a result of two-way communication. By following proper Twitter etiquette law enforcement agencies can realize Twitter love and re-broadcasting of their messages. This could be of particular importance in cases like missing persons, kidnappings, and the sort.  Loads of value and broader reach is a no brainer.

3) It’s Dirt Cheap – There are also low cost out of the box solutions to lessen potential costs for law enforcement agencies participating on Twitter. How about allowing cops to Tweet from a mobile phone, mobile computer in their cars, etc. Possibly have officers designated an official Twitter handle, as certified by Twitter (that’s legit) and allow officers to use this as an additional method to communicate with citizens. Thus agencies are not realizing any new costs, but just allocating new methods of communication.

4) Crime Prevention – Ultimately law enforcement mission is to reduce crime. By following and becoming friends with citizens of their jurisdiction on Twitter they can realize a more crime stoppers tips. An example is the Toronto PD who nearly increased their crime stoppers tips 70% by using Twitter.

Law enforcement is missing a huge opportunity to build community on Twitter and to reap the benefits of those communities. Social media is not very social if only one person is talking, come on coppers get in the conversation.

Twitter and Dutch Community Policing

In several police departments in the Netherlands community policemen are using Twitter to communicate with citizens. Community policemen are in that way taking citizens with them in their daily work. With their short messages they can send actual information including photo’s, video’s, location and links.

Twitter is offering two way communication. It is not only sending the tweets, but above all it is offering the opportunity to get in the conversation. Citizens can easily tweet simple incidents and request for contact for different cases. Community policemen can react realtime when they are on duty. Contact between citizens and police is fast en short. Recognizability of the community policemen increases.

What are they tweeting about? They are tweeting about their daily work, giving information on local points of interest and they are advising about crime prevention. In their tweets they can ask for information and witnesses of crimes. They can ask citizens to help them solve crimes or find back missing children.

This gives citizens an insight in the variety of tasks of a community policemen. Community policemen using twitter are getting a lot of positive reactions from citizens. It gives community policemen acknowledgement for the police profession.

Citizens know about the tweeting policemen through the attention in media like local papers or newsletters. Widgets with the twitter stream of the community policemen are placed on local news sites and blogs. Citizens that are visiting the local news sites who are not familiar with Twitter can in this way be introduced to this new way of communication. Citizens who are already on twitter are starting following the policemen, others decide to start using twitter to be able to follow or get in contact with their community policemen. In this way citizens are getting more familiar with their community policemen and it often than easier to get in contact.

Besides the easy way to get in contact with citizens in their own community, Twitter makes it possible for community policemen to get in contact with community policemen in other communities.

Tweeting community policemen are still a novelty. Most community policemen have to get used to interact with citizens using Twitter. It’s not only the unfamiliarity with the use of new techniques like a smartphone, but also a change of culture.

The introduction Twitter in community policing must be carefully prepared. Adequate training and guidance are important conditions for tweeting community policemen. Both policemen and citizens should be well informed about the do’s and dont’s when using Twitter.

In the Netherlands at this moment 48 community policemen are using Twitter.

Bas Slutter and Peter de Boer are community policemen using twitter in the police department Hollands Midden. Bas started using twitter in september 2009. Peter started a little later. In september 2010 there will be 10 more community policemen on twitter.

In November 2009 police department Groningen started an experiment with Twitter. There are at this moment more then 30 community policemen using twitter. Police chief Erik van Zuidam was tweeting that there will be maybe 150 community policemen using twitter in the police department in 2012.

Since January 2010 the police department Rotterdam-Rijnmond has 5 community policemen who are using Twitter.

John Elskamp is the most enthusiast community policemen using social media in the police departement Noord-Oost Gelderland. His collegues are on Twitter, John has its own blog and is on the friendsnetwork Hyves.

In the police pepartment Utrecht there are 6 community policemen using Twitter.

There are three policemen tweeting in the police department Midden en West Brabant.

In Friesland community policemen Gerard Willemse is on Twitter.

The police department Amsterdam-Amstelland is going to start a pilot with twittering community policemen.

Marga Van Rijssel has worked for the Dutch Police since 1992 in Information Management and Human Resource Management. She is passionate about the Internet, Web 2.0, Social Media and connecting people especially in the field of Law Enforcement. She is the Online Community manager and strategist at Politie 2.0.; the Dutch Police’s online community built on the Ning platform. The goal of the community is to share knowledge about the police, intelligence and the complex ICT dossier. The theme of the community is “We know more than I”. @libel | Website: Politie 2.0

Toronto Crime Stoppers Gets 10,300 Anonymous Tips for 25th Birthday

Relationship building with Social Media makes it happen

Toronto Crime Stoppers received a record number of anonymous tips in 2009 to help the police prevent and solve crimes. In 2007 the average number of tips per month was 350, in 2009 it was close to 1,000 per month. Social media using a relationships and technology approach is one major reason behind the increased success. This article will explain some of the steps taken by a collaboration of community and police through both traditional and social media that led to the increased number of tips.

A Celebration

At a ceremony at Toronto Police Headquarters in January, 2010 at the launch of “International Crime Stoppers Month” an unlikely group of people were on hand, in front of a throng of major media cameras and local, national and international newspaper writers. Toronto Police Chief William Blair was present as the guest of honour.

Toronto Police Services Board member and local city councillor Adam Vaughan was on the podium representing Toronto’s Tweeting Mayor David Miller, as was the President of Crime Stoppers International Mr. Gary Murphy. The Creative Director of national advertising firm DDB Canada Mr. Andrew Simon was next to these dignitaries, set to launch the 2010 “Cash For Guns” campaign with a series of new posters, bus stop ads and billboard ads that equalled a $100,000 in kind donation to Toronto Crime Stoppers.

Perhaps the most unlikely, and most uncomfortable person on the podium was 20 year old Jason Tojeiro, the Toronto BMX rider and youth mentor, honoured in Australia in 2009 as Crime Stoppers International Student of the Year .

I have documented Jason’s work mentoring the youth of Rexdale’s Tandridge Crescent in 2009 in social media on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. The story leading up to this special day announcing a record number of anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers to help the police prevent or solve a crime is a long and winding road with many ups and downs along the way.

The Backstory

One part of the success story of a record # of anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers started at a Young President’s Organization (YPO) Christmas Party in December of 2007 that featured honoured guests, NHL Hockey greats Ron Ellis and Marcel Dionne, as well as Toronto philanthropist, radio broadcaster and political elite John Tory. Part of the festivities that day included the construction of a freestyle BMX Bike Park by the YPO membership and their families – some 40 CEO’s of companies, all under 40yrs of age. The whole idea had been inspired by a presentation I was honoured to have been invited to do on Social Media in Law Enforcement to YPO delegates in the summer of 2007. Court (and wife Kirsten) Carruthers (Acklands-Grainger International CEO) had left that presentation sharing with me a passion for engagement of youth and police through exciting grass roots community activities for youth like BMX and graffiti.

Some of the most important guests on the day of the BMX Park construction were the graffiti artists doing a demonstration of their talents decorating the ramps with community building art work. One of those artists was the 2008 Crime Stoppers International Student of the Year – graffiti artist Kedre ‘Bubblz’ Browne. He was joined by his friend Jessey ‘Phade’ Pacho, who also has been honoured as an international community builder through his community work with graffiti by Communities Advancing Valued Environments (CAVE).

The success of this BMX Bike Park construction and graffiti community building initiative was quickly spread to a Toronto Community Housing Corporation parking lot at 75 Tandridge Crescent, Toronto, Ontario Canada thanks to the community collaboration between the Toronto Police Service, Barry Thomas from Toronto Community Housing, and Allan Crawford of the city of Toronto Parks Forestry and Recreation Department.

Lost in the Headlines

Fast forward to the announcement of a record number of tips received by Toronto Crime Stoppers at the press conference in January, 2010, you might be surprised to learn that the story in the main stream media the next day was not the record number of tips, but that of a murder victim’s family appealing for tips.

A citizen journalist had seen the Facebook Event inviting the community to attend the launch of Crime Stoppers Month celebrating the record number of tips and launching the 2010 Cash For Guns campaign , and took it upon herself to invite the media to the same time and place to speak to a family appealing for information on the identity of the killer in their time of grief for their loved one Kenneth Mark, who had been gunned down innocently as he got a slice of pizza in The Junction area of Toronto. Mr Mark was a respected community leader who worked tirelessly to keep youth out of gangs. He was Toronto’s 62nd and last murder of 2009. This story, rightfully so, was timely, and needed the attention of the mainstream media to assist the police in solving this terrible murder. But the message to the sustainable success of the Crime Stoppers program in preventing so many similar incidents over the past 25 years was lost for that day… but not in the long run.. thanks to the posting of several videos to Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

The truth behind the success of the program is that Crime Stoppers is a sustainable, local, provincial, national and international program, with close to 1,300 programs worldwide, all community operated in partnership with their local police agencies and the media. The real reason behind Toronto’s increase in tips from 350/month to close to 1000/month since 2007, and the incredible success of the program is ‘youth engagement’, and the use of SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook, YouTube , Twitter and Vibe.to.

Three Missing Teens

It started in 2007 with 3 missing Toronto teens, Eve Ho, Kevin Lim and Jackie Li being posted to Youtube, followed shortly thereafter by a homicide investigation for slain teen Omar Wellington in Flemington Park area of Toronto. Since, every type of crime from sexual assaults, to wanted Hells Angels gang members, armed robberies and even theft from autos has been posted into social media. The biggest key has been my steadfast belief in the philosophy of ‘let the people speak’ in social media. There has been a lot of chatter online about the cases, and the positive youth work, which has generated an increased education on how the anonymous tips work.

As alluded to above, it wasn’t just appeals for unsolved crimes that were being posted to social media. Positive youth engagement through graffiti art projects and two freestyle BMX parks, Toronto Marlies hockey games and community skating events, Caribana and Gay Pride Parades (the “Your Tip Is Safe With Us” condom campaign) , the Youth in Policing program (YiPi) as well as daily school presentations were all celebrated in social media. Students were given lessons on privacy, identity theft prevention and responsible posting in the Crime Stoppers presentations, and the fan based grew bigger each and every day.

The Future

The key to making this success continue is the continuation of positive community engagement between the police and the community, and the continued increased use of social media. I’m a firm believer that we must make what has been accomplished here with Crime Stoppers sustainable for police services worldwide.

The Toronto Crime Stoppers program is in good hands in 2010, under the new direction of Coordinator Detective Darlene Ross, and Community Youth Officer Constable Martin Douglas. The plan is to continue with youth engagement projects, and education on the power of prevention of Crime Stoppers programs worldwide. Constable Douglas is very involved in an after school dance program called “Krumping Out Crime”, and is well on his way to establishing a similar following of youth on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter through his positive relationships with “Krumping” youth.

A record number of tips have come into the program in 2009. Over 10,300 tips to be exact. The program has come a long way since it was started in Toronto in 1984 by now retired Staff Superintendent Gary Grant. He took the initiative 25 years ago to form a community partnership driven by the community to help the police. He will tell you that it never was an easy road to forge with the police. The community was always on board and ready to help, but he had to overcome obstacles with the police partnership. Grant says those obstacles are still being overcome today, but it is hard to tell when Police Chief Blair tells the assembled media that his police service greatly appreciates all the community work that the Crime Stoppers community volunteers do to raise the money to pay up to $2000.00 in cash rewards for each of those over 10,000 tips.

We must teach other community members and law enforcement officers to use the power of social media. The police and the community do great work, but a lot of it does not get celebrated or ‘engaged’. We need to think of ‘engagement’ and not simply ‘marketing’ of the community safety message. It is as simple and inexpensive as a $150 digital camera and an investment daily of thirty minutes of time on social media sites like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. The road to success is relatively inexpensive. Saving even one life is worth every penny.

( Talk: 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) Type: http://222tips.com or TEXT TOR plus your message to CRIMES (274637) . .. see how anonymous text tips works worldwide here, which has resulted in increased awareness of the cases themselves and how Crime Stoppers works. Recently, the ability to leave a tip directly from Facebook has been added to the pages of Toronto Crime Stoppers, Toronto Police Service and Crime Stoppers International, as well as the individual profiles of myself and Constable Martin Douglas. The best is yet to come.

To view videos and posts related to this article click on the following links:
http://YouTube.com/1800222tips
http://YouTube.com/222TIPSCommunity
http://YouTube.com/LegalGraffitiArt
http://Youtube.com/TorontoBMX
http://YouTube.com/TorontoPolice
http://Twitter.com/TorontoPolice
http://Twitter.com/1800222tips
http://Twitter.com/GraffitiBMXCop
http://Facebook.com/ScotMills
http://Facebook.com/ScotMills2
http://Facebook.com/1800222tips
http://Facebook.com/TorontoPolice

Constable Scott Mills has begun a new position as the Toronto Police Service Social Media Relations Officer on April 1, 2010. He can be contacted at scott.mills[at]TorontoPolice.on.ca

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