Sydney police force have recently announced they’re ramping up their use of social media in a bid to help catch more criminals. They’re specifically using a youtube channel and Twitter account to source recognition of suspects, through posting CCTV footage on youtube and twitpics on Twitter, asking ‘have you seen this person?’.
Now we’ve seen some pretty impressive uses of social media, from watching live new stories unravel live on Twitter to mapping flu trends on Google, but this is certainly impressive and takes social media to a whole new level. This is the kind of stuff we want to see when we talk about ’social media of the future’, looking at the thousands of people online and finding a way to turn this into good. The Sydney Police Force have successfully recognised that the viral aspect of social media could prove invaluable to their work.
This is no small step and shouldn’t be overlooked or dismissed as gimmicky and is an important next phase for social media. The Sydney Police Force aren’t the first to use social media however. The West Midlands police force are also using social media tools, including a Facebook page and Youtube channel which are both regularly updated with useful content and video demonstrations.
They even have ‘pup idol’ videos which are, quite frankly, too cute to handle..
While it’s important that police forces are using these tools in a bid to gather information, they also serve another purpose, that is showing a human side and a personality. For official organisations, especially the forces, this an important benefit of social media as it makes them ultimately more approachable.
Unlike the title of my post suggests, it would obviously be difficult to prove if there ever could be a crowd-sourced arrest, but the fact that some police forces are starting to use social media is an important step in openin up communication channels.
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I can envision this idea having great success as systems and practices develop, but I have to wonder about the security issues at play. I’m sure the powers that be have thought about such things, but initially I’d be cautious about posting CCTV clips on Youtube. Sometimes those videos fall into the wrong hands/blogs and may end up causing more embarrassment/damage/pain to the victims.
Hi Case, I would imagine they’ve considered the security issues. You’d have to hope people wouldn’t misuse the clips in any way and I’m sure they would be liable if they were using them in a way that proved dangerous.
I follow more than 400 police departments worldwide on Twitter including Sidney. Social media use by Law Enforcement is growing every day! Congratulations to @nswpolice !
Wow, 400? That’s impressive and certainly encouraging. Which stand out to you as using Twitter the best?
This is a good development. But it also introduces a challenge before Twitter, Verification of accounts. “Verified Accounts” was recently announced by Twitter. If this is not expanded, there are chances that the social media can be misused. There can be cases of fake Twitter accounts created to defame persons. Such cases must be tackled
Some of the best LE agencies on Twitter are Toronto Police (@1800222TIPS and @trafficservices) Boca Raton Police (@bocapolice) Bellevue, Nebraska Police (@bellevuepolice) Boise, Idaho (@boisepd). Of course, forgive me, I’m in the U.S. so see them more. @nswpolice and @wmpolice are to be commended for using Twitter. However, neither follow their citizens back so they’re missing out on the whole point – the interaction. Social media is supposed to be SOCIAL.I hope, at least, that nswpolice are monitoring what people are saying about them on Twitter. There’s some interesting stuff out there!
Thanks! @lawscomm