Mental illness is a hot topic in the news right now, thanks largely to mass killings, domestic violence and violence that doesn’t fit either of those narratives. While the stories help to highlight the overall topic — that mental illness is prevalent among our neighbors, coworkers and the strangers we pass each day — they…
Category Archives: Community relations
Don’t just tweet—curate
At Officer.com this week, I wrote a back-to-basics column on using Twitter. The article ran long, so I didn’t get a chance to include a segment about a trend I’ve been noticing (and taking part in): the increasing importance of content curation. Last month, the news that Twitter had acquired curation service Summify generated quite…
Victoria Police Department: Strategic planning that integrates social media
In my last post, I blogged about how public opinion—and trust—is formed according to the way police use (and communicate their use of) technology. This week’s post isn’t a direct sequel, but more of an exemplar: how one agency has implemented a strategic plan that integrates social communication. Having participated in a client’s strategic planning…
The future of policing: Public trust
Before I go into this week’s post, I want to draw your attention to a new project being undertaken by a college professor acquaintance who, like me, has worked extensively with law enforcement. In his Jan. 1 blog, he writes: Seeking LE organization willing to work virtually with supervised university students. The goal is to…
High tech roundup: December 2011
If you came to this blog by way of Twitter or Facebook, you know that for several months I’ve been using the Scoop.It bookmarking service to aggregate news items about how police are using high tech. One reason I like it: its magazine-style format is nicely laid out, easy to read and easy to digest….
Raw video: Tactics + strategy for a YouTube age
A Law Enforcement Today article recently covered the question: what do you do when a civilian starts recording you for a YouTube video? Regardless of whether your jurisdiction’s policy is to view videotaping as Constitutionally protected free speech, or a danger to officer safety, stated author Jean Reynolds: Criminal justice experts suggest the following guidelines…