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New Social Media Duties for Dallas Police Officer
On February 16, 2011 I was given a new assignment in the Dallas police department’s media relations office as the social media officer. Little did I know what was in store for me! The department was joining the 21st century and my job was to...
Social Media Handbook for Police: Part 1
Welcome to a new series of social media tips aimed primarily at a police audience, but hopefully applicable to a wider group of people too, especially those in the public sector. This series of posts will aim to identify some good practice and...
How to Use Facebook Search & Investigative Tips
The most common investigative request I receive is for information about Facebook. With over 500 million active users, it seems that everyone now has an account. Let’s look at the options. If you have a name, searching Facebook is quite easy....
Officer Safety: On Facebook, People Can Still Locate You in Bing Search Results
Even if you’ve removed yourself from Public Search on Facebook One of the first things in the privacy settings on Facebook that many people like to take care of is to take themselves out of public search. It’s a smart thing to do with a...
Advancing Data Sharing at the Local Level and Beyond
Sharing information across jurisdictions is essential for law enforcement to keep pace with criminals and terrorists who are not limited by geographic boundaries. More so than anyone else, local cops see this played out on their streets every...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Law Enforcement on Twitter: Five ways 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...
When cops are attacked with social media: eight lessons learned at G20
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...
Preparing Public Safety Recruits for Innovation
During incidents, everyone counts on cops to be quick, strong and competent. But overall, we should also hope they’re familiar with science, math and technology concepts. Every day, we’re seeing significant advances in technology and it’s...
