CPCA: Can you talk about some areas of law enforcement
in which social media is not working?
Le Veque: A few areas come to mind:
Faux or veiled participation --- Some police agencies
participate for the wrong reasons or because of pressure to
begin a social media presence. When this happens, there
is failure. It’s important to truly participate, because if an
agency starts up and then has no follow through, it will
probably have more negative impact than if the agency did
not participate at all.
Top management must buy into the concept, and decisionmakers must empower their people to speak on behalf of
the agency on day-to-day matters. This does not replace
the chief as the last word by any means, and when properly
trained, social media representatives know when --- and
when not --- to engage or speak on matters.
Improper Personal Use --- Education is key. I think
examples of negative use by personnel have been lessening
this last year. There has been a great deal of coverage and
I believe that officer awareness is growing as to the impact
of their negative participation. Through best-practice
education, the implementation of new policies and through
continuing awareness campaigns, the negative aspects will
continue to diminish. This is not different from “real life.”
The problem will never disappear.
CPCA: When it comes to social media, where is law
enforcement headed?
Le Veque: For starters, agency presence is continuing to
increase. Leadership at such organizations as Cal Chiefs,
IACP, CPOA and POST contributed greatly in this area in
2011. There has been an emphasis on creating training and
providing best-practice information to agencies, and it is
paying off.
Also, mobile applications --- from personal use by officers
in the field to community use by agency apps – is growing.
The associated issue will be when individual officers
use their personal hardware in investigations and when
performing their jobs. There is little in the form of legal
decisions on this so far. A smart defense attorney will
certainly request all records and that may include personal
information. Most courts will preclude the personal info,
but there always is the chance of disclosure when police mix
work and play.
CPCA: What about video?
Le Veque: Some agencies, like the Newport Beach Police
Department, are already using YouTube to present crime
prevention and community relations info. We will see an
increase in the use of video to deliver news releases, too.
Police agencies can save on personnel costs and create
short news releases as opposed to having someone on hand
to speak to multiple outlets. The Los Angeles Sheriff ’s
Department is in the process of remodeling an office into a
small studio just for this purpose.
Law enforcement should remember it is on stage 24/7.
YouTube has already shown how quickly and how many
differing perspectives can appear on officer-related
incidents. Look back at the tragic BART shooting ---- there
were multiple recordings of the event. How about the
Fullerton incident? From city cameras to bus and phone
recordings, we are seeing different perspectives, different
opinions, and very different takes on how quickly “news”
spreads.
The immediacy of information being shared via instant
messaging, text messaging and smart phones is amazing.
If law enforcement is listening and actively involved in
situations, many times we will learn of events before our
officers have even reported back via radio.
Everyone wants to tell the world what they are seeing. A
great example of this is the use of Twitter monitoring.
Watching the Twitter feed on a particular topic or keyword
can garner great information. I think law enforcement is
realizing this, and the use of social media will grow. •
Arcadia Lt. Tom Le Veque
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Behind The Badge