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Use of Social Media at the Torrance Police Department

In January of 2008, Chief John Neu redesigned the Community Affairs Division of the Torrance Police Department (CA) by more than doubling the size of the Division and bringing together the necessary resources to forge new partnerships with the Community, while at the same time, strengthening partnerships already established. His directive was simple; to get out in the community and interact with them by finding out what they needed from their police department, what they wanted from their police department and how the department can do better. With this, the Community Affairs Division began its task of reaching out to as much of the Community as possible. The task was daunting, as most interaction with the community was then based on outdated snail mail and phone calls. With over 140,000 residents alone, even the expanded Community Affairs Division could not make a dent in the communication flow necessary to push out real time information to the community.

Therefore, as the Commander of the Community Affairs Division for the Torrance Police Department, it was the mission of Lieutenant Stephen D’anjou to maximize the department’s community outreach efforts. It is the responsibility of the Community Affairs Division to interact with the city’s residents independently, to communicate with the Home Owner Association groups, the business community, the faith based community and the special interests groups. Thus, Lt. D’anjou asked himself three questions on how to better outreach to the community and always came up with the same answer. These questions were:

  1. How do we better bridge a tight partnership with the entire community?
  2. How can we better market the “brand” of the Torrance Police Department?
  3. How can we efficiently and effectively “push” out real-time information to the community for the benefit of both the police department and community equally?

The answer to those questions continued to be the need to utilize electronic media which naturally led to the need to utilize Social Media (SM).

Faced with the challenge of connecting with an increasingly tech savvy community in a time when budgets were being reduced instead of expanded, the choice was made to utilize our website and email system to push out real time crime information and crime prevention training opportunities. We began with this information on our website and using our already established Neighborhood Watch program to publicize our new efforts. Shortly thereafter, we created an in-house email alert program that allowed all residents, visitors or anyone with interest in Torrance PD, to sign up to receive Crime Alert Flyers or any other bulletins issued. These Crime Alert Flyers alerted and educated the Community related to crime trends and what to look for that could be classified as “suspicious.” The community was encouraged not to engage possible suspects and to call the police to report suspicious activity.

Within weeks of beginning our “Crime Alert Flyer” program, we realized success as citizens were receiving information of crime trends in their own neighborhood and then calling to report the suspicious activity. In one early example, a neighborhood was experiencing crimes involving a scammer posing as a distraught neighbor looking for “gas money”. This suspect had been operating in various parts of the City off and on for several months.

After receiving a number of phone calls from concerned citizens, The Community Affairs Division drafted a Crime Alert Flyer and emailed it to the email alert database and posted it on the website. Within hours, we received calls from citizens who had challenged the would-be scammer as she attempted her scam with them. At least one citizen who answered her door actually showed the suspect the flyer and was able to obtain a license plate as the suspect fled.

Several other successes were experienced with our e-mail alert program and Crime Alert Flyers. On more than one occasion, citizens received flyers regarding residential burglary information and then called when they observed suspicious activity in their neighborhood. Officers were able to respond and arrest suspects prior to them being able to flee the area.

To reinforce the importance of calling and to show the Department’s appreciation, we implemented a practice of presenting the reporting citizen and presenting them with a Certificate of Appreciation, signed by the Chief, for their willingness get involved and report the crime.

Our e-mail alert database existed prior to Facebook and Twitter. While some people don’t consider e-mail a type of SM, for the purpose it serves our Department and Community, I am going to consider it a SM.

After several successful months of utilizing our website and email database, there was still a need to reach more people with more real time information. There was a need to streamline the process and allow citizens to obtain information without the need to be signed up by Community Affair personnel. There was a need to reach out to citizens without requiring them to log on to the website to obtain information…those that wanted information at their fingertips. While strategizing with his divisional team, Lt. D’anjou decided to dive into the global world of Social Media. Lt. D’Anjou familiarized himself with the powerful tools of SM that pushed well beyond the static police department website. As a reader of this article, I am sure we all know what SM is, so let’s look at how the Torrance Police Department is currently utilizing SM and try to measure some results.

In April of 2009 the Community Affairs Division launched its Twitter page. As with any law enforcement organization utilizing a new technology, we began slowly by posting simple information about Crime Alert Flyers and other documents on our website. Once we saw the success and the ease of posting and we began to see our subscribers continue to grow, we added additional information such as traffic information and real time crime information as appropriate. After a rather large earthquake was felt in the Los Angeles area, we were able to obtain a tweet from the US Geological survey and then re-tweet that information directly to our subscribers…all within a matter of minutes of the earthquake. There was no need to post information on our website first and our citizens and local leaders took notice of how quickly our information was getting out. The requests for more information grew and were being talked about in the community and re-tweeted several times by our subscribers. Our postings were going viral, albeit at a somewhat localized level.

In July of 2009 we added Facebook as another SM component to our community outreach efforts. We linked our Facebook postings directly to our Twitter account so there was no need to complete additional postings. With one posting on Facebook, both accounts were updated. As with our Twitter account, we originally began slowly by posting less formal information and photos from events that the Community Affairs Division was attending as well as general department information. This information primarily consisted of victim awareness training opportunities for the community, Press Releases, and Neighborhood Watch Newsletters. As with each previous entry into the SM world, this new venture was very well received by the community. However, we thought we could do more with SM to educate the community and further reduce crime. We continued to work with our Detective and Traffic Divisions to obtain additional information to post for the community. This desire to push, push, push “desired” information to the community was never allowed to jeopardize criminal investigations, nor identify victims of crimes and we needed to continue to respect confidentiality, but the desire continued to be “lets get out there!”

We routinely put “Traffic Alerts” out on Facebook and Twitter to inform the community related to road closures and/or congestion. When we receive information of pre-scheduled road closures or intersection repairs, we push that out giving the dates and time. When incidents occur without notice (i.e. accidents and/or transformers blowing that blacks out signals), we get that information out as soon as possible as well. Surprisingly, my perception is that the community appreciates the traffic information more than they do the crime information. At least that is where I get the most feedback.

As we have continued learning new ways to utilize SM, we have expanded the information we push via all of our programs. We have opened up the list of authorized users of our programs to included our on-duty Watch Commanders so that real time information such as traffic conditions, some in progress crimes, suspect searches/containments and other information can be posted to the Community as needed at all hours of the day and night.

Therefore, we believe we are maximizing our electronic outreach through these three SM’s.

As of the date of this article in late-April, Torrance PD had 1,139 Facebook followers and 625 Twitter subscribers. On September 1, 2009 we had only 310 Facebook followers. So we have had some good growth.

Our e-mail subscriptions are just over 3,100 at the time of this article, but we have seen a spike in registration over the past two months. There is now a link on the department’s website where citizens can register an e-mail address to receive the same information that is being pushed out on Facebook and Twitter. As we all know, not everyone has a Facebook or Twitter account and a majority of the population has an e-mail account. I believe that as we get more “generous” with the information that is being pushed out (primarily related to crime and traffic), these SM’s are being marketed by “word of mouth” and everyone is jumping on board to one of the three SM’s we push.

We will continue to be innovative in our approach and continue to maximize our community outreach through SM. As we head into the Z-Generation (aka: i-Generation), we believe SM is the most efficient and most effective way to keep our community informed.

Mark Athan is a Lieutenant at the Torrance PD and currently commands the Community Affairs Division. Lt Athan authored this article on behalf of Torrance Chief John Neu who will be a member of the panel, “Social Media: What is it and who’s using it?” at the CPOA (California Peace Officers Asso) Training Symposium. The former Commander of the Community Affairs Division, Lt Steve D’anjou, contributed to this article. Email Lt Athan at mathan[at]torranceca[dot]gov

Social Media Policy, the very Wide Gray Line

Day after day, your inbox is filled with various “client alerts” and legal updates. The topics may vary and will include legal opinions as well as interpretation of case law that are meant to give guidance to your Law Enforcement agency. Unfortunately, most of these alerts have been absent one particular but growing topic within our Law Enforcement community – Social Media. If you take the time to conduct a little research on the topic, you will find sites on the Internet that are filled with discussions and articles on the topic of Social Media and Law Enforcement. Websites like ConnectedCOPS, Social Media Five-0, and Cops 2 Point 0 are three I have found to be useful resources.

The California Peace Officers’ Association will be hosting their 90th Annual Training Symposium in Los Angeles, May 24-27, 2010. A good portion of the training at the CPOA Symposium will focus on the topic of Social Media and Law Enforcement. We will have the opportunity to take part in panel discussions and presentations that break down Social Media:

  • Social Media: What is it and Who is Using it?
  • Facebook, Twitter, and Nixle…Ready, Set, Go…
  • Social Media and Electronic Communication in the Workplace – A Legal Overview
  • The Changing Media and Technology Landscape for Law Enforcement
  • Using Social Media in Law Enforcement Investigations
  • And other Interesting Topics Dealing with Leadership

In general, Law Enforcement is behind the curve when it comes to the implementation and use of Social Media. Some of the biggest concerns that I have heard and read about are how do we police this, what policies do we implement, and what about liability? These questions are justified and are on the minds of chiefs and department leaders everywhere. While the common public use and acceptance of Social Media has exploded, our ability to keep up has been hampered by lack of case law, lack of tested use, lack of “known” expertise, and in my opinion – fear.

Lauri Stevens, founder of LAwS Communications and the ConnectedCOPS Blog, will be moderating the discussion panels on Social Media at the CPOA Symposium. I was honored to be asked by Lauri to participate on the panel dealing with the legal overview and policy development as an agency representative. Other panel members will include: Chief Tim Jackman, Santa Monica Police Department (CA), Captain Rich Lucero, Fremont Police Department, (CA), and Kevin Hancock, Lexipol LLC.

Our agency is in the process of implementing a Social Media policy. The Arcadia Police Department has adopted its policy manual based on recommendations from Lexipol. Lexipol recently offered a fairly straight-forward Social Media policy. There are a few areas of concern from my standpoint as an end user, and I am sure that Kevin Hancock will enlighten us with thoughts on Social Media from Lexipol.

This area of concern is ever changing and developing. It is incumbent on all Law Enforcement agencies to implement a Social Media policy. Even if there is no department buy-in and participation, I guarantee you that your personnel are participating in Social Media. What will you do when that one simple, seemingly innocent post by your employee, crosses the “line”? Do you even know what that “line” is? The panel that Lauri and the CPOA has assembled hopes to help answer that type of question and more for you. On behalf of the California Peace Officers’ Association, we hope to see you in Los Angeles for the CPOA 90th Annual Training Symposium.

CPOA Annual Training Symposium to Cover Social Media in Law Enforcement

The California Peace Officers’ Association (CPOA) will be hosting its 90th Annual Training Symposium on May 24-27 in Los Angeles at the breathtaking new JW Marriott Hotel at LA Live. Core Value Leadership: Building Out from the Center is the theme. Is this building out from the center of our organizations or out from the center of our self? One cannot happen without the other.

CPOA in concert with Connected Cops will explore the hot topic of the year – Social Media and Electronic Communications. Lauri Stevens of LAwS Communications and Chair of Web Design & Interactive Media at The New England Institute of Art, will head up three of the presentations:

  • Social Media – What is it and Who is Using it? A presentation by Ms. Stevens will be followed by discussions by the following on the use of social media by their departments: Chief Rick Braziel of Sacramento PD, Asst Chief Jason Benites of Oxnard PD, and Chief John Neu of Torrance PD.
  • Social Media: A Hands-on Workshop. Bring your smart phone or your laptop with an air card and learn how to maximize your use of Facebook, Twitter and NIXLE.
  • Social Media and Electronic Communications in the LE Workplace: A Panel Discussion moderated by Lauri Stevens. Panel members include Chief Tim Jackman of Santa Monica PD, Capt. Rich Lucero of Fremont PD, Sgt. Tom LeVeque of Arcadia PD and Kevin Hancock of Lexipol.

    • Ms. Stevens is a nationally recognized leader in the realm of law enforcement’s use of social media…for community building, for investigations, and for inter- and intra-agency communications.

    ConnectedCops.net will be the “guest blog” for the CPOA Annual Training Symposium. Future articles will appear here.

    Plan to attend these sessions and learn how you and your agency can benefit by greater knowledge and use of the various types of social media.

    Check out the details at cpoa.org

Risk. Care. Dream. Expect.

Since the conclusion of The SMILE Conference…

For the past couple weeks, I’ve had this blog post only partially written; the rest rolling around in my head without a home. At a very personal level the conference was for me an incredibly life-changing event. We put 60 plus people from all over the western world into one room and shared fabulous ideas and best practices about social media’s role in law enforcement. It’s been over two weeks since the conference concluded and I haven’t written a word about it myself. What the conference really came down to was change. So much, in my view, happened at SMILEcon and as a result of it, I didn’t know where to begin. From where I sit, it seems as though everyone who attended has since gone on to inspire change. Rather than get bogged down in the details about the specific things that have happened, I wanted to keep this post at a higher level about the real theme behind it all. I just didn’t quite know how, until today.

The answer came to me in several tweets from my friend Scott Mills this morning. He’s a Police Constable in Toronto, my relatively new and yet very dear friend, and the veritable “poster cop” for what we’re calling the #bluewaveofchange. He was also one of many outstanding presenters at SMILE. Scott Mills wears his heart on his sleeve the likes of which I’ve never seen, at least not in a cop. He has accomplished more with social media within his police work than what one can easily describe with words, and I’m pretty sure he causes his commanders a bit of sleep deprivation.

But….

  • He gets this stuff. He builds relationships with gang members who friend him on Facebook with full knowledge that he’s a cop. Huh?
  • He feels this stuff. I’ve seen his eyes well up as he says to me, ‘Lauri, nobody listens to the kids.”
  • He lives this stuff. I’ve woken up in hotel rooms at 3:30 in the morning, picked up my phone and guess who’s tweeting at that hour? Scott Mills.

I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed. ~George Carlin

He also gets terribly discouraged that not everyone in the law enforcement profession is embracing his vision quite a fast as he thinks they should, and therefore, this is a longer-than-normal introduction to a post – about change.

A simple greeting card

I had sent Scott a card (funny that I used the USPS) to encourage him and this morning he tweeted back the message on its cover to me:

  • Risk more than others think is safe
  • Care more than others think is wise
  • Dream more than others think is practical
  • Expect more than others think is possible

~Cadet Maxim

    I wasn’t telling Scott anything he didn’t already know. These four lines embody what he does, and it hit me, it’s no longer difficult for me to put what he does into words. These are the words that describe him precisely and this is also what SMILEcon captured. IMHO.

    So why am I sharing all this with you?

    In my work with law enforcement I deal mostly with the top cops – the decision makers. But, hardly a week goes by when a PIO or an officer doesn’t call me and ask “What’s the best way I can get my chief to understand and embrace this stuff?” or “My commander thinks that [fill in the blank with the stupid cop trick of the day] will happen if we let them use social media.” Or “The Captain is afraid to open our Facebook page for comments because of what the trolls might say.” And etc…

    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~Author unknown, commonly misattributed to Charles Darwin

    I usually answer by telling them to show the commanders all the stories about the good things that are happening, both in the regular press or in the many blogposts written by those of us who like to write about these things. The good exponentially outweigh the bad. The rewards far outweigh the risks.

    But now I have a new answer. Be careful how you say this to the “big guy”, maybe just give him or her this article. Remind them that they didn’t get to the level they’ve achieved by being afraid to Risk. Care. Dream. Or Expect. Isn’t that what true leaders do every single day?

    We’re calling it the #bluewaveofchange

    I first heard the phrase “bluewaveofchange” during a conversation with Constable Steve Welton of the Hamilton, Ontario Police Service. He is a uniform patrol cop who is taking some risks. They are his words for this movement that seems to be taking place in the world of law enforcement. It’s not about changing how to be a cop. If it were, I wouldn’t be involved. But it is about changing a mindset. It’s about changing how citizens think about police and what and how much they know about police work. “It’s about empowering the community to get involved and it’s about partnerships” says Constable Welton, adding “it’s also about taking a leadership role online and reducing the fear of crime and to never give up on our commitment to the communities we swore to protect. The youth need mentors and guidance.” And, it’s about changing how cops communicate with citizens and it’s about enhancing and supporting the theories which underlie the definition of community policing. The #bluewaveofchange is about the law officers who have the heart to want to take risks, to care and dream and to expect, a LOT.

    Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. ~Pauline R. Kezer

    I started out to write a post to recap The SMILE Conference; how it has effected change and how it will be changed to keep relevant. But I can do that some other time. Suffice it to say that the conference will be whatever it needs to be in order to be appropriate with where we are in time. I need your thoughts on that as I create the next several events.

    When you send a card simply to send a little encouragement to somebody and the message on it comes back to you resonating even stronger than when it left, the words must have been good ones (I didn’t write them). We should all Risk. Care. Dream. Expect. Or else, what might happen instead is summed up in another quote by the great comedian George Carlin, “I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed. “

    Publishing this piece is a bit risky too. Please don’t just read it and close the page. Take a risk and let me/us know your thoughts. More conversation is needed. Post your comments, reactions, thoughts here and/or engage us on Twitter. Let’s start surfing the wave.

    Lauri is @lawscomm
    Scott is @GraffitiBMXCop
    Steve is @StephenWelton

    Aloha, and the winner is….

    When Detective Chris Duque retired in 2007 after more than 30 years with the Honolulu PD, he didn’t actually retire in any true sense of the word. It was about then that he and members of his extended Ohana (Hawaiian for ‘family’) started the Internet Safety Awards program in Hawaii’s schools.

    Duque said that in his last two years with HPD he worked 14 cases involving children being molested after meeting someone online. He said, “the scary thing is that in 11 of those cases, the child made the initial contact with full knowledge that they were contacting an adult. These are the kids with serious issues. These are the children who don’t have the affection, love and attention from parents, so they go online looking for adult companionship that they’re lacking.”

    This is what community policing is about. Even though I’m a cop, doesn’t mean my network is only cops. Arnold is my only law enforcement ohana member. Everyone else shows up because I ask them to.
    ~Chris Duque

    Keys to success: #1 Listen to the kids

    There are two keys to the success of the program, says Duque. First, he talked directly to the kids to find out what they were concerned about regarding going online. Second, it’s all about the community in policing. To the first point, Duque asked the kids what their concerns are. They answered:

    1. Cyberbullying – both what can they do to protect themselves from cyber bullies but also what kind of behavior can get them into trouble themselves.
    2. Privacy/plagiarism/copyright – to the kids, who don’t worry (enough) about their own privacy, this meant what happens if I download music? How much trouble can I get myself into?
    3. Online predators – kids wanted to know how to tell if they’re hooking up with someone who’s pretending to be someone they’re not, online.

    The true genius in Duque’s work (and that of his Ohana) is not only did he ask the kids what they want to know, but he works with them to get them to be the influencers in the schools. He gets them to teach their friends how to stay safe online. To push things a little bit further, with the suggestion of, and partnership with his ohana member FBI SA Arnold Laanui, he created the “Internet Safety Awards”. To vye for the award, the kids create public safety announcements (PSA’s) addressing one of the three topics, all on their own. This year, 18 schools presented 61 entries in 3 categories. The three categories match the three issues described above. The winners, announced Friday, April 16th at the Internet Safety Awards in Honolulu, are: (clicking each will present the video)

    Duque with 3 Internet Safety Experts at Lunalilo Elementary School-winners of "People's Choice Award"

    And a very special People’s Choice Award was given to students at Lunalilo Elementary School for their video “If Only”.

    The kids’ schools receive monetary awards for first, second and third place and each first place winner receives a certificate for outstanding community service from the state legislature. All the winners receive huge recognition for their efforts. Additionally, the winning videos are being professionally branded and will be available for free for anyone to use to spread the message. Information on how to obtain them will be available here on ConnectedCOPS when they’re ready. Duque and the ohana want to spread the good work of the young islanders far and wide to hopefully influence other kids worldwide to make good decisions.

    The second key to success: The Ohana

    David "Kawika" Talisman, HPD Det (retired) Chris Duque and FBI SA Arnold Laanui at the Internet Safety Awards in Honolulu, April 16th, 2010

    Duque insists the credit is not his alone. He speaks of the Ohana, his “family”. He mentioned so many names I couldn’t get them all down. They include Hilary Apana-McKee, the top technologist in the Hawaiian Dept of Education, Kiman Wong of Time Warner Cable, Brenda Salgado of Hawaii News Now and a host of others. But he speaks most highly of his two close friends, FBI Special Agent Arnold Laanui and David Kawika Talisman, a private investigator and CEO of True Digital, as the pillars of the enterprise.

    Duque has been using the Internet and social media to link cops and community for years. “This is what community policing is about. Even though I’m a cop, doesn’t mean my network is only cops. Arnold is my only law enforcement ohana member. Everyone else shows up because I ask them to.” Duque reminds us all, that it’s all about community and the kids.

    Mahalos Detective Duque. You’re a true hero, just exactly what we like to think of when we hear the phrase “an officer and a gentleman”. I’ve more then a couple decades of media experience (but I’m not as old as YOU ARE), and I can tell you, these videos are of very high quality with regard to both production values as well as content. Congratulations to you and the ohana, the kids and everyone involved.

    Aloha, and the winner is…

    …all of us. We’re all in this together.

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