Social Media and Law Enforcement

 As stated in an earlier post, I briefly mentioned social media websites and their impact on law enforcement. I wanted to take some time to talk about that in this week's post in a little more detail, specifically Facebook and Twitter.

 When Facebook first started, I remember not being able to join because at the time you needed a ".edu" email addresss, meaning you had to either be attending or be an alum of a college in order to join. At the time I had left Northeastern and was working full time so I could not logon to experience what it was like.

 Since that time, Facebook has opened its doors to everyone, allowing for us to keep track of our old friends, coworkers, family, and classmates. For most of us, checking our facebook accounts, has become as part of our morning routine as grabbing a cup of coffee. The facebook craze has gotten so popular that many businesses have blocked it from their servers, not allowing employees to log into their accounts during their work hours.

 Similar to Facebook, but slightly different in its design and operation, is the social media website Twitter. By subscribing to "follow" other users, your timeline gets fed with fair ly close to real time updates as they happen.

 So how can keeping up with your friends possibly help law enforcement you ask? For starters, just as is the case with YouTube channels, people who "friend" or "follow" individual police departments have access to information put out during an emergency as it happens. As an example, during the October snowstorm that caused days worth of power outages for many throughout the state, my local police department posted constant updates from National Grid via their Twitter page. Despite the wireless internet routers not working, many were able to use the internet via the high speed networks their cell phone companies provide, to access Twitter. In the example given, I was able to do just that as I followed the police department in the town where I live. My particular department continued to update their Twitter page every few hours as to the number of reported outages, as was reported to them via National Grid conference calls. Although the days without power were frustrating, to see the number of outages dwindle in real time, at least let me know that an end to the outages were near. Not only does this help the citizens but it also cuts down on the number of phone calls by citizens asking for updates to the police department's main number, leaving the lines open for emergency calls only.

 Many departments utilize their facebook and Twitter pages for thist type of general information that would normally result in a high call volume into the police station, sometimes overwhelming the dispatcher so much that overtime would need to be called in to assist in answering the phones. So not only does it help take some of the pressure off of the dispatcher allowing for them to concentrate on the emergency calls for service, but it also allows police chief's to stay within their operating budgets by not having to call out for overtime to handle call volume.