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Social Media Policy for Law Enforcement X 3

Social media policy in law enforcement is a hot topic and well it should be. No one can or should dispute that the importance of sound policy, and the need to guide law officers in proper behavior and procedure online, is huge. Just when you’re getting a handle on the elements of a good social media communication policy, and you’re thinking your social media investigations need to be covered by policy as well; if you’re vetting potential new officers on the Internet, you’ll need a third policy for cyber-vetting of new recruits too. I’m no HR professional, but the legal ramifications in this area could be gigantic. This post is an overview of some important considerations for all three social media policies.

Slightly less than a year I wrote for the first time on social media policy in law enforcement. Much of what should be in a law enforcement social media policy (copyright, fair use, truthfulness, and the like as covered in the original article) is in every good social media policy. I especially like the policies of the Air Force, IBM, and Intel. But while that’s true, there are several areas that are unique to law enforcement. These were also covered in my original article. I offer here a couple of new insights.

1. Communication Policy / General Use

I have added two items (#8 & #9) to the list of areas unique to law enforcement since writing the original article, but haven’t changed the rest.

  1. Integrity. Perhaps the most important part of everything a law enforcement agency does online or elsewhere is integrity. Agency participants in social media should be reminded that Integrity is the essential ingredient to using social media ethically. Agency employees should, therefore, be honest in their use of social media and maintain high regard for the public interest. All information disseminated should be absolutely accurate.
  2. Disclaimers. Because you may be giving your personnel the authority to comment on issues relating to the department, it’s imperative to emphasize the importance that officers, especially, state that what they write is their own opinion and not that of the department.
  3. Identity. Some bloggers work anonymously, using pseudonyms or false screen names. Law enforcement agencies should absolutely insist that in blogs, wikis or other forms of online participation that relate to the department or the city, or activities or issues with which the department is engaged; department employees use their accurate identity.
  4. Department-sanctioned tools. While it should be stated that the social media policy of the agency covers activity by agency employees on tools they may create on their own or those of others that they might contribute to, department-sanctioned tools should be governed more closely. Careful distinction needs to be made between on and off duty work online.
  5. Competence. Department employees, whether staff or sworn, should not use any social media tool unless they really understand how it works. Many of the problems with officers getting themselves into trouble happen on Facebook and often the officer(s) involved indicate they didn’t know Facebook worked the way it does. Make your staff responsible for assuring their competence online.
  6. Command Staff responsibility. Standard disclaimers, do not by themselves, exempt command staff officers from any special responsibility. By virtue of their position, they must consider whether personal thoughts they publish may be misunderstood as expressing opinions of the agency.
  7. Training. Provide social media training for your officers and staff. Once your policy is written, be sure to distribute it with conversations about departmental support for social media.
  8. What’s not o.k. to post. This may include things such as department identification (patches, insignia, officers in uniform) and sensitive information or any other information that could reflect negatively on the department.
  9. Implications on career. All violations of policy or misbehavior online could have detrimental effects on an officer’s career. But one that doesn’t seem obvious to all is the effect simply having a social media profile, even if there’s never a problem, could have on an officer’s future ability to perform undercover work. Tremendous care is warranted so than an UC officer can’t be intified online.

2. Cyber-Vetting Policy

  1. Notice and Consent

    • Informing applicants It’s absolutely essential to let applicants know that you’ll be conducting a search of their social networking profiles. Your policy should state that they will be told and at what point in the process they will be told. Some agencies don’t want to give them a lot of notice so the profiles don’t get altered, but surprising them altogether may not be fair.
    • Consequences of not giving consent Consent needs to be given to search a person’s online profiles, especially if the agency expects to search password-protected sites. The applicant should be told that not giving his or her consent could disqualify him or her from consideration.
    • Type of information investigator may collect Will it be ok for your agency to speak with the online friends of your applicants? Some people are really taken aback by this but is it different from visiting their neighbors? Define circumstances under which agency may contact online friends and otherwise define of the scope of the search, inform the candidate, and consistently apply it to all applicants.

  2. Quality Assurance & Training

    • Internet search training for investigators The world of online media is complex. Investigators need to understand the nuances of privacy settings, imposter pages, gathering and storing of evidence.
    • How they’re monitored
      What procedures are in place to make sure the investigator is operating professionally and securely?
    • Ongoing refresher training
      Because platforms like Facebook changes the rules regularly and because there are always new platforms of which you need to be aware, make sure the investigator attends training at regular intervals.

  3. Internet Search Practices

    • Who can conduct searches?
      The answer is definitely, positively NOT – “the intern”. That seems obvious to most but it’s happened. The procedure for determining personnel authorized to perform such searches needs to be defined as well as the ongoing method by which one will be qualified to remain authorized. Should this position be defined as sensitive and receive all the protections therein?
    • Outline expectation for notification of changes
      Do you want to go so far as to require employees to notify you of any changes to their online profiles, such as new profiles they might have?
    • Disclosure of blogs they own or on which they participate
      Consider making it policy that if an officer starts a blog or begins to contribute to one, s/he should disclose it first. Also state your position on the prospect of posting anonymously.
    • Email addresses
      Applicants should provide email addresses that they have used in the past. Law enforcement generally agrees an email address is an important search term. Issues here include the applicants memory of all email addresses, or those used for undercover or sensitive work.
    • Disclosure of online identity
      Many agencies are asking applicants to list current screen names and nicknames used online. What happens if they disclose bank account username/password (because it may be the same as that used for a social platform) and then something happens to that account? Or their identities are stolen. Can they come back and blame your agency?
    • Command Performance
      Many agencies are opting to have applicants open up their password-protected sites during the face-to-face interview so that decision makers can review online content during the face-to-face interview, sometimes without warning. Applicants should be afforded the opportunity to explain any online information.
    • Limited to a workplace computer
      Authorized personnel conducting Internet searches for employment or security clearance purposes may review online information from publicly accessible, unrestricted websites.
    • Use of applicants social security number in searches
      There are many inherent dangers to the practice of putting someone’s social security number in an online search. Doing so can make it viewable to others. It isn’t recommended to be done on social sites which index content.
    • Misrepresentation
      Circumstances under which misrepresentations will be made to obtain online information need to be defined. Besides being in potential violation of social network’s terms of service, this topic is controversial. You create fake profiles to catch pedofiles, but under what conditions, if any, would you consider creating a fake profile to investigate a potential employee
    • Wall-off
      Some law officers have indicated they feel that if someone discloses potential protected-class types of info online it’s equivalent to a waiver of their privacy. That doesn’t mean a judge would agree. A wall-off procedure needs to be in place to protect the applicant and the hiring manager regarding Internet search results pertaining to protected classes (e.g., age, sexual orientation, race, etc) so that the hiring manager doesn’t see information falling within the definition of protected class.
    • Criminal Evidence
      When/if criminal evidence is uncovered during a cyber-vetting procedure, what is done with the evidence?

  4. Monitoring & Reporting After Hire

    5. Some or all of the points in this section could also fall under the “general use” section above.

    • Ongoing monitoring
      Employees should be informed if it is the agency’s intention to monitor their activities online.
    • Conditions for ongoing monitoring
      In response to specific concerns, complaints, or information about an employee, organizations may conduct online searches to obtain additional information on that employee.
    • Reporting by peers
      Should an employee who becomes aware of an Internet posting or Web site that is in violation of the organization’s policies report the information to a supervisor. Are anonymous reports o.k?
    • Accountability
      Employees shall be responsible for ensuring that sensitive information is not posted on their family members’ social networking sites.
    • Rebuttal/Defense
      Employees should be given the opportunity to address anything negative found online. It could be the work of an imposter or an angry ex-spouse. Is the employee allowed to have a copy of the evidence?

  5. Application of Internet vetting findings

    • Employment decisions
      Hiring, retention, promotion, security clearances and disciplinary decisions, based at least in part on the results of an Internet search, must be based on established criteria and processes.
    • Security
      How are the results of Internet searches stored and protected? For your own protection as well as that of the candidates, establish conditions under which the results of your investigation is destroy or stored, and for how long. On the one hand, you may not want it around for liability reasons, on the other if you deny employment to someone, you may need the evidence to prove your negative decision was NOT discrimination.

3. Investigations Policy

I’m not a trained investigator but I offer a few points here only to the extent social media platforms are involved.

  • False identities
    Give proper consideration for the procedure by which you will obtain false identities and take into consideration the workings of each platform.
  • Department only equipment
    The use of department-only equipment which has no online identifiable ties to the agency. This is standard in any investigation but take special consideration for the use of mobile technology, especially geo-location enabled.
  • Training/Competence
    Always important. There’s always a new tool, sometimes a very simple one that will benefit your agency. Keep your investigators well trained and don’t underestimate the value of training by professionals who genuinely live in the world of social media. Any cyber-investigator knows how to put up a false profile, but examine whether your trainer really is up-to-date on the very latest technical developments in the social world. Include in your policy that training is to be provided and investigators need to take on responsibility to know what they don’t know and learn it. A good cyber-investigator stays up to date him or herself by tuning in social media blogs and other sources.
  • Proper documentation
    The technique of gathering of anything online should be treated with great care. How it was obtained, with date-stamp, in the chronological order it was obtained is of upmost importance. And, with social networks, the content itself changes quickly. Evidence needs to be gathered more quickly than may have otherwise been necessary, don’t lose sight of the need to document carefully.
  • TOS violations
    Some investigative activity is technically against the Terms of Service for social networking platforms. Know the TOS statements of the platforms you’re using and put into policy under what circumstances your agency will conduct activity which may otherwise be in violation of those TOS.

Three final thoughts:

In addition to the specific points above, there are some themes that transcend all policy development in social media.

  • Consistency
    One of the biggest arguments for social media policy is so that your agency can be sure that personnel are all treated equally. If you’re accused in court of discrimination in a hiring decision and you don’t even have a document to present that shows you intend to perform fairly for everybody, that’s a big piece of potential protection missing. Of course, actually practicing consistency goes hand in hand with saying you do so.
  • Training/Competence
    Training and competence are not the same. I regularly see and hear policy personnel saying training should be part of all policies. But just because training is provided, doesn’t mean the trainee is competent with the tools. I recommend putting the onus on the employee to be able to assure his or her thorough knowledge of the platforms s/he is on regardless of purpose. A great majority of the cases where an officer gets himself into trouble – especially on Facebook – with career ruining activity, could have been prevented if the players had better knowledge of how the platform worked. So provide the training, but include separately that they will held accountable and that blaming mistakes on not knowing it would happen won’t be tolerated.
  • Honor your agency’s culture
    No matter what you read or who you talk to, always honor the culture of your own organization when developing policy. If your agency doesn’t need to be overly restrictive and punitive with social media, especially with regard to how you expect sworn officers to behave when representing the department, you will know it. Moreover, the agency will benefit because the officers won’t feel like it’s just not worth doing because it’s too easy to get into trouble.

It’s a brave new world we live in. The main thing is to go forth without fear of these media. There’s more benefit than risk and sound policy will go a long way towards protecting your agency in the online world as well as allay fears that you’re not ready.

As with this or any other post on ConnectedCOPS, let me know your thoughts via the comment section below or get in touch any way you prefer.

Police Twitter Strategy and Tools

This blog post is prompted both by a conversation I had recently with a large-agency police communications executive and by OneForty.com. I was invited to write a guest post on oneforty.com about Twitter use by law enforcement, which was published today. Additionally, the Comms Director’s police department is doing a lot of nice things in social media but is not yet on Twitter and he had many questions.

He explained that his agency is ready to go there but there are many unanswered questions in his mind, which included:

Do they have one Twitter account for the entire agency?
Or
Do they have several, representing different Units or even individual officers?

Who do they allow to Tweet?

Does he get his Chief on Twitter?

If they allow anyone beyond him to tweet, how do they manage a tweeter’s authority to tweet as representatives of the department?

Two thoughts come immediately to mind:

  1. This is why every department needs a social media strategy (the policy is part of the strategy) and
  2. Law enforcement could benefit from knowing what third party tools (not necessarily only for Twitter) can help them.

To the first point: I created the C.O.P.P.S. Social Media Method to provide a framework for thinking about these questions that are on everyone’s minds like the ones expressed above. There isn’t one answer that fits all agencies. The answer to the questions above lie in what your strategy is. The Units or individual law officers representing your agency on Twitter should be determined by your goals. First, what segments of your audience are you trying to reach? What are you goals with regard to them? What are your messages and therefore, who should be delivering them and how?

To the second point: there are countless third-party tools, all or nearly all of which were developed with open-source technology to help us all manage Twitter better. There’s even one that will allow people under your supervision to tweet, but which gives a supervisor review-power before the tweet goes out. Check out the Twitter toolkit on oneforty.com that I created. I make it my mission to tell law officers only about the tools worth your time. If you think there’s another that should be in the toolkit, let me know. Otherwise, don’t let all the social media hullaballoo distract you. That’s what I’m here for.

My thanks to Laura Fitton @pistachio and Janet Aronica @janetaronica for the invitation to write the guest post on oneforty.com

Calling Citizens and Catching Criminals

Law enforcement agencies across the country use the CodeRED emergency notification system to coral crooks and alert citizens about fugitives, burglars and dangerous suspects. The CodeRED system keeps citizens informed and encourages them to get involved in protecting their communities and neighbors.

Crook Caught After Resident Calls Dispatch

In Vilas County, IL the Sherriff’s department was looking for a 22-year old man wanted on an arrest warrant. After the man was located he was approached by Officers and quickly fled on foot into the woods. Along with Police K-9 and airplane units, the department used CodeRED to notify residents about the fugitive. One of the residents that received the CodeRED message picked up the phone and called dispatch. He saw a man fitting the description detailed in the message running past his home. “The resident who got the CodeRED message called us immediately after he saw the fugitive. While he was on the phone with dispatch giving us details on the whereabouts of the fugitive, he saw two of our men run past his house in quick pursuit,” said Vilas County Chief Deputy Joe Fath. The fugitive was apprehended. “It’s obvious that we did receive assistance in locating the fugitive based on the CodeRED message sent to residents,” said Deputy Fath.

Keep the Clubs on the Course

Typically golf clubs are seen in sporting goods stores or on the golf course. It’s not often that you’ll see them on a Sunday afternoon being used as assault weapons. Forest City, IA residents received a CodeRED message notifying them of a dangerous suspect who had left the scene of a crime. The suspect fled after he assaulted people with golf clubs. The CodeRED message gave residents a description of the suspect and advised them to stay indoors. “Residents assisted law enforcement with the search. It wasn’t long before we found the suspect hiding in thick brush near the scene of the crime,” said Emergency Management Coordinator Jennifer Ackerman.

Increased Crime Awareness

Milford, CT police recently used CodeRED to warn residents to be extra vigilant after a six week rash of home break-ins. “CodeRED helps us to get the word out quickly when we see an increase in burglaries. It’s the perfect communication tool for education and outreach”, said Crime Prevention Officer Jeff Nielsen. “CodeRED results are immediate. Citizens become more aware. Their eyes are opened to the real possibility of crime impacting their lives,” said the Officer. “The day after each CodeRED campaign we always see an increase in the total amount of calls about suspicious activity,” he said. “It steamrolls interest and motivates citizens to get involved. I know that the use of CodeRED has initiated the start of many new Neighborhood Watch groups in our area,” said Nielsen.

Law Enforcement on Twitter: Five ways to kick it up a notch

…. and it’s time.

We’re well into the “dip your LE toes into the Twitter stream” modus operandi. It’s time for real leverage of a great platform. If you’re among the +/- 1,000 agencies that I follow on Twitter, about 4/5 of you tweet. But the ones who really use Twitter the way it’s intended, are just a very few.

The call to action

It’s time to kick it up a notch. Here are five ways for your law enforcement agency to get serious about Twitter. Take this advice and I promise you’ll realize the many benefits.

1. Get Verified

It’s imperative that your followers have a way to be certain that the Twitter account identified as their local police agency really is their local police agency. The first and easy way is to put links to all your social media accounts on your website homepage. Hopefully, you’re already doing that. The second not-so-easy way is to get your Twitter page verified. It’s “not-so-easy” because Twitter gets many requests so it often takes time and a little nudging of Twitter to make it happen.

Twitter started verifying accounts to counteract impersonation of celebrities in June of 2009 But apparently they realize that impersonation of police departments is pretty common as well because more and more law enforcement agencies are succeeding in getting verification. The verification form still says the process is in beta and that verification isn’t guaranteed. I’ve heard from some agencies who submit the form and when it doesn’t happen assume they’ve been rejected. But that’s not necessarily the case. Having a link to your Twitter account on your department website homepage as mentioned above also helps Twitter with the process.

Follow these steps.

  • Step one: Fill out the verification request form on Twitter here. Down on the left column, click “feefback form”. Fill in all your official agency contact info.
  • Step two: Use your own judgment on how long to wait, or not. But after a couple weeks or so, fill out a help twicket with Twitter here. Keep your twicket number handy in case you need it later (for step 3).

    • There is a step three if steps one and two don’t work. Give it a few weeks. Email me at lauri[at]lawscomm.net if you’re not verified with steps one and two.

2. Follow

Too many law enforcement agencies follow no one or just other law enforcement agencies. In a training session on the west coast recently it occurred to me that there’s a misperception in law enforcement that you’re expected to actually read the tweets of everyone you follow. That’s not true and no one does that. Power users of Twitter read tweets with third party tools like Tweetdeck or HootSuite which allow you to put tweeters into lists and read those who are important to you.

The reasons to follow Twitter accounts that are relevant to law enforcement is first and foremost

  • to counteract the perception on the part of some that law enforcement is unapproachable. Not following other tweeters only reinforces that attitude and that’s harmful to your image and that of law enforcement everywhere;
  • You’ll get more followers if they can see that you might follow in return. It’s simply a part of Twitter culture;
  • Not following anyone says to the rest of the Twitterverse “we don’t really know what we’re doing here on Twitter”;

My best recommendation is follow:

  • your citizens
  • other law enforcement agencies
  • @lawscomm 😉
  • Other social media experts who provide useful information like @mashable @socialmedia2day and many others.

For more Twitter accounts you might find interesting, check out the lists on my Twitter page. I have lists of law enforcement agencies worldwide, individual cops, law enforcement media, vendors, etc. Poke through them and you’ll find some tweeters that interest you.

3. Engage

This is not only how the fun begins but it’s essential in order to realize the potential relationship-building opportunities. At the very least, monitor your “at replies” or “@ replies”. That is, anytime someone tweets something to you or mentions you in a tweet that is not necessarily directed to you. This is one simple way to see what people are saying about your agency. And, if they’re tweeting to you, answer them. You’ll find people will ask questions for clarification on something you may have tweeted. It’s a golden opportunity to repeat your message and generate good will. The bottom line is, talk to people.

Building relationships online (not solely on Twitter) is key when something happens and you need the support of your community. You have to “build your nest” before you need it. Waiting until there’s a crisis to get started is the wrong time. There are countless examples every day where a law enforcement agency could have better leveraged social media during an event, whether it is a missing child, riots or large public gatherings. Don’t wait until it happens. Engage and build your audience now. It will be there for you when the time comes.

4. Learn the fine art of the hashtag.

There have been many examples of law enforcement following hashtags to monitor gang activity or the like. But few agencies seem to understand how to use a hashtag to affect the outcome of a situation. Let’s say there’s a big sporting event in your town and your agency wants to communicate traffic control concerns. Run a few simple Twitter searches until you find the hashtag being used by others to discuss the event. The hashtag is the word, or letter combination preceded by the # sign that you will likely see in many tweets relating to the event. As you tweet messages about that event, include that hashtag in your tweets as well. That puts your messages into the stream that people are following for that event. That means, followers of that event can’t help but see your messages as well.

Anytime something happens and you want to be sure the key people are reading your tweets, using the hashtag puts your tweets into that stream and even the people who AREN’T FOLLOWING YOU will see them. Rioters, anarchists, other troublemakers aren’t likely to follow you. But you can reach them and possibly affect the outcome of the situation by inserting your tweets into the conversation.

5. Manage your Profile.

Click “settings”, then click “profile”. Three things to check in here.

  • Location: make sure you include your state and country.
  • Web: when listing your department website, take out the “www”. It just takes up space. The link will still work without the w’s and more of your web address will be visible.
  • Bio: You get 160 characters in your bio. Consider including the name(s) of the persons managing the account. You might also include a statement reminding people to use 911 report crime/emergencies.

Take the time to follow these steps. Let me know how you get on and leave a comment or question below.

When cops are attacked with social media: eight lessons learned at G20

by Lauri Stevens

With the G20 in the city, eyes around the globe were on Toronto over the past week and just about everybody involved locally or from afar has something to say, and they did and continue to do so over Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The proliferation of social media platforms has give people greater ability to connect with others and publish their own content. And true to form, when it comes to social media in law enforcement, the SMILE pioneers at Toronto Police Service, are taking more than a few arrows in the back.

For the TPS, it didn’t start with G20.

Wind the clock back to May when 18 y.o. Junior Alexander Manon died while being pursued by police. The cops are unable to comment by law due to an independent investigation, but thousands of members of the court of public opinion say the cops killed him. The matter is under investigation by the civilian “Special Investigations Unit” (SIU). Meanwhile, several Facebook groups have surfaced as part of a campaign to blast the TPS, one with close to 21,000 members. It’s calling for rallies and for members to sign a petition.

The Toronto Police Association has called upon the SIU to release the findings of its investigation. The SIU has reportedly had the autopsy results for weeks. But they’re not acting and the TPS can’t do anything but take a very public beating in social media. The lives of the officers who work in the Division involved have literally been threatened and yet all they can do is wait for official results of the SIU investigation. A review of the members of the anti-police group on Facebook reveals that many TPS officers have joined the group, presumably to keep informed of the sentiments of the community.

Toronto Police’s Social Media Officer Scott Mills was encouraged by his commanders to post a comment indicating how to report to the police any information regarding the event. Mills has spent years building relationships through social media with the same citizens who are now joining forces against the TPS. Prior to becoming the force’s social media officer in April, he was a gang and youth officer and was highly and unusually effective at using social media tools to build relationships

Whether Mills’ hard work has truly vaporized is unlikely. Given that he built relationships, some very deep, with some of the same people who are now attacking TPS, he has that to call upon. It will be a long haul, “but we’ll do it, it’s going to take a lot of hard work”, said Mills.

The G20 is the same, but Different

Ahead of the G20 events, the TPS provided a “social media guide” and provided officers to monitor and engage in social media as part of its G20 strategy. Throughout the preceding week and over the weekend of the summit, TPS monitored and mined social media not only to engage with protesters and observers, but also to gain intelligence as to what those with criminal intent were up to. Here again, social media was used against the Toronto Police Service. But this time TPS can, and IS, using social media to engage and interact and in some cases, solidify support.

They [peaceful protestors] don’t understand for example, why they were boxed in by police during the event at Queen and Spadina. We had good reason to do that, because the same Black Bloc tactics that led to police cars burned and businesses vandalized the day before were being seen by officers and they decided to be safe rather than sorry.
~Constable Scott Mills

It will be a long time, if ever, anyone who was there or who followed it from miles away will forget the stories and the images from June 26th and 27th. It was a turbulent, violent and riotous weekend for the city of Toronto. TPS arrested approximately 900 people. A few of those arrested were journalists and many were peaceful protestors, a fact TPS acknowledges. “They don’t understand for example, why they were boxed in by police during the event at Queen and Spadina. We had good reason to do that, because the same Black Bloc tactics that led to police cars burned and businesses vandalized the day before were being seen by officers and they decided to be safe rather than sorry”, said Mills. To be sure, violent protesters were plentiful as well, such as those who identify with the beliefs of the Black Bloc ideology..

Several police cruisers were burned, in some case other cruisers’ windshields bashed in by protesters while the driver was still inside.

AS far as social media goes, TPS paid attention most particularly to Twitter. Mills said “my biggest challenge was volume” adding that he read and responded to upwards of 200 messages a day on Twitter alone, and wasn’t watching Facebook where copious negative (as well as positive) comments were coming in. He said, “it finally got to the point where members of the public asked us to remove from Facebook some of the bad comments from the anarchists”. Mills who staunchly believes in “letting the people speak” took the comments down but said “we split the page, so they’re still posting criticism but our message isn’t getting lost either”.


Over the weekend, TPS shut down its Facebook wall while they dealt with Twitter activity, “We never want to shut down the wall but we had to disengage it until we could monitor it 24/7 again. There will certainly be some best practices that come out of this” said Mills.

Tim and Scott are TPS social media trail blazers. Because of their great work I hope to expand our work with social media.
~Dep Chief Peter Sloly

Positive comments in support of TPS are equally plentiful. When TPS asked witnesses to send them information and images of Black Bloc activity, they received so much, Mills had to stop his media activity to spend a couple hours cleaning out his email inbox. On Tuesday (June 29th), at the request of Deputy Chief Peter Sloly, TPS made it easy for citizens to file a complaint against an officer by tweeting a link to the Office of Independent Police Review.

Mills said he and the other media officers at TPS are handling the situation by “continuing to put out the truth and answer as many questions as we can.” And it’s working, sometimes just one person at a time as with this exchange between the Chief and an Ontario man. But for the most part, it’s reinforcement of the right message and reassuring supporters that your agency is on top of its game. Overall, when reasonable citizens see the big picture of what went down and TPS handling of it and really study the communication online, TPS will gain favorable support. Deputy Chief Sloly is grateful the TPS had the services of Constable Scott Mills and Sergeant Tim Burrows as well as others. “Tim and Scott are TPS social media trail blazers. Because of their great work I hope to expand our work with social media.”

#G20 is over but the protests keep going

The members of the G20 have long since returned home and yet many angry people remained. Fifteen hundred of them gathered outside Toronto Police Headquarters on College Street on Monday night (June 28th). Mills was among them, tweeting. “When they found out who I was, they wouldn’t shake my hand… It was a peaceful protest but very hostile toward police.” And he took photos, which are now on the TPS Facebook page.


Some protesters are calling on Police Chief Blair to resign. But Blair defends the actions of his officers and credits social media for TPS’ intelligence gathering, as quoted in the Toronto Sun, “They got their picture taken, a lot,” he added. “They used Twitter and other social media to communicate their intent, we have those communications. So they are going to be held accountable for their actions.”

We can talk about idealism in social media all we want but the fact is that in police work there is danger and people can get hurt in real life. That will lead to very strong feelings and commentary whether it’s a protest in the streets or on Facebook.
~Lon Cohen

Lessons Learned

Social media (in its current state) is so new, everyone using it is learning along the way. It’s no different for cops. As Huffington Post and Mashable.com writer Lon Cohen commented when I asked him about TPS’ work in social media, law enforcement is also learning about how to deal with people through the social web. He added “We can talk about idealism in social media all we want but the fact is that in police work there is danger and people can get hurt in real life. That will lead to very strong feelings and commentary whether it’s a protest in the streets or on Facebook.”

  1. Social Media isn’t going away. And when it’s used to spread negative commentary about your agency, be ready. The best time to build your support system is before you need it. The worst strategy is not to have one.
  2. Dealing with crisis communications needs to be part of your social media strategy. TPS could have been even better prepared in the online world, but the fact that they produced a social media guide ahead of time and actively monitored social networks with a strategy in place, was remarkable. Ninety percent of what could happen can be predicted and planned for.
  3. Social Media is a highly valuable intelligence-gathering tool. As acknowledged by Chief Blair, the communications are valuable and discoverable and highly relevant to their ongoing investigations.
  4. A crisis is optimum opportunity for reputation management. “When the dust settles” TPS stands to gain ground with the citizens of Toronto for being responsive and engaging and abundantly sharing information.
  5. Don’t underestimate staffing requirements. You’ve heard it before, the tools are free but knowing how to use them and paying the people who do, costs money. Sometimes a significant amount.
  6. Engagement is king. TPS was ready to communicate and did so with anyone and everyone who engaged them. If instead, they used Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the rest only to distribute and not receive, they would have missed a huge opportunity.
  7. Use social media for internal communication. If rank and file Toronto police officers also followed the TPS social media messages, TPS feels they would also benefited from receiving the info being put out to the public.
  8. Set expectations for officers re: photographs. Some disagreements arose when officers’ photos were taken even when the photographers were just tourists or onlookers. Not all officers at G20 understood that when in a public place, people taking their photographs for non-intelligence gathering reasons is o.k.

For the TPS The G20 is not over

The officers I’ve had contact with are shell-shocked, but they press on. The protests continue and the TPS continues to perform its duties and continues to try to improve communication with the citizenry.

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