Social media policies open the door for responsible employee use

I’ve had in mind for awhile to write about social media policies, but held off because, well, I didn’t know a lot about them. So when I connected with Lauri Stevens (@lawscomm on Twitter) and found she had written a policy for the Bellevue (Nebraska) Police Department, I knew 1) I wanted her to guest blog and 2) it would fit perfectly with my last two entries.

Lauri Stevens: the social media policy

This topic reminds me of my early career as a television reporter. Back then, if a reporter needed to talk to a member of a police department, there were often only 2 or 3 officers allowed to speak to the media. The officer who was involved in the incident could almost never speak with reporters; instead the journalist would talk with the PIO or a senior officer and get the sanitized, less-interesting version of the facts. For members of the press and consumers of news, these types of policies made little sense.

Banning or restricting an officer’s use of social media is similarly senseless. Not only should an officer not be restricted from using social media, but s/he should be encouraged to engage on behalf of the department.

One Chief of Police in Nebraska has embraced social media tools in his agency and recently created a social media policy for his department. Chief John Stacey says he wants a policy in place so his employees know that he encourages them to interact electronically “for the good of the department and citizens a long as they’re aware that common sense is warranted when online”. So he is taking a proactive approach to what he refers to as “overwhelming changes in communications”.

The Bellevue Police Department is committed to ensure all portions of the community can contact, interact and consult with their police department. Newspapers, TV and radio do not reach the majority as assumed by many. By recognizing the potential of reaching a larger sector through all forms of media enables a higher degree of transparency and enhances our service capability.
~Chief John Stacey

Besides that, the tools are free and allow a department to build a listening mechanism to hear from and communicate with citizens. Not only that, but the tools also offer unprecedented opportunities for agencies to exercise some control over the conversations regarding them.

In the business world, what is referred to as a company’s “brand” is, to a law enforcement agency, its reputation. Companies are learning that social media is loosening their control over their brands because their huge advertising budgets use to exert power over that task. But now, their customers are talking about them whether they like it or not.

For law enforcement agencies, most of which have scarcely a PR office let alone advertising, control over their reputation can be increased or at least enhanced with social media tools—if they are used strategically. The first step in encouraging officers to participate but also understand what is expected of them in the world of Web 2.0, is to provide a social media policy for your agency.

Why you need a social media policy

A policy is essential for any agency because it can be used to encourage participation among officers and staff as well as lay the groundwork for their use. By offering guidelines in the form of a social media policy, officers can know what’s expected and that it’s OK to get involved.

As an overview, all law enforcement social media policies should address what any social media policy should:

1. taking personal responsibility for the content a person publishes
2. identifying oneself in all transactions
3. using disclaimers to absolve the department of responsibility
4. respect for the audience
5. being factual.
6. copyright.
7. fair use.
8. privacy.

Because cops are made to adhere to a higher moral standard and because there’s an inherent fear among cops about new technology and change—and also because so much benefit can be realized by law enforcement agencies by using social media—extra emphasis is needed in some areas of a good social media policy.

Law enforcement-specific policies should also address:

1. Integrity. Perhaps the most important part of everything a law enforcement agency does, online or elsewhere, is integrity. Agency participants in social media should be reminded that integrity is the essential ingredient to using social media ethically. Agency employees should, therefore, be honest in their use of social media and maintain high regard for the public interest. All information disseminated should be absolutely accurate.
2. Disclaimers. Because you may be giving your personnel the authority to comment on issues relating to the department, it’s imperative to emphasize the importance that officers, especially, state that what they write is their own opinion and not that of the department.
3. Identity. Some bloggers work anonymously, using pseudonyms or false screen names. Law enforcement agencies should absolutely insist that in blogs, wikis or other forms of online participation that relate to the department or the city, or activities or issues with which the department is engaged, department employees use their accurate identity.
4. Department-sanctioned tools. While it should be stated that the agency’s social media policy covers activity by agency employees on tools they may create on their own or those of others that they might contribute to, department-sanctioned tools—the ones the agency initiates and sponsors—should be governed more closely.
   The guidelines for these can be as strict as the agency deems necessary, but should also include encouragement of participation along with the requirements for an officer to use his agency email and photo and in his online profiles.
5. Competence. Department employees, whether staff or sworn, should not use any social media tool unless they really understand how it works. It hearkens back to that higher moral standard for police. Officers have often stated, with Facebook for example, “I don’t friend anyone I don’t know.” Good idea.
   However, they don’t know everyone that their friends know. Consider the case of the friend of the wife of an officer who posted some party pictures which included lots of cops drinking beer at a local watering hole. In and of itself, that’s not the problem. But the friend of the wife tags a few of the guys by name, others comment on the content of the photos with statements like “how drunk were you guys?”, and it goes on from there.
   None of it was created by any “friend” an officer knew, but rather friends of friends of friends. To be absolutely safe, the best recommendation is that officers keep separate profiles for work and play. On non-department related profiles however, officers should still exercise command sense and a great deal of caution.
6. Command staff responsibility. Standard disclaimers do not, by themselves, exempt command staff from any special responsibility. By virtue of their position, they must consider whether personal thoughts they publish may be misunderstood as expressing  opinions of the agency. Additionally, a command staff member should assume that department employees will read what is written. A public blog is not the place to communicate department policies to department employees.
7. Training. Provide social media training for your officers and staff. Once your policy is written, be sure to distribute it with conversations about departmental support for social media. That would be a good time to roll out training in the various tools. Social media tools scare some people. They shouldn’t. However, scary things can happen if they’re not understood; a little knowledge goes a long way.

While a social media policy is essential for any law enforcement agency (whether it has its own online presence or not) the creation and communication of the policy is perhaps the most important factor in online activity. Agencies can find good policies already drafted by existing companies online, but even the best of these should be edited to incorporate the special needs of law enforcement.

Lauri is launching her own blog about social media and law enforcement. Find her over on ConnectedCops.net!

Image: Ben_Zvan via Flickr

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