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Archive for the ‘Digital Engagement’ Category:


Don’t delay! Post 999

Published on 1 February 2012 by in Digital Engagement

The recent publicity campaigns promoting the new 101 Police telephone number have all been at pains to emphasise that the number should not be used in an emergency. But 999 (911 in the USA, 000 in Australia) is not the only way to contact Police in an emergency. Indeed, the US Government has started to put in a place a system which allows members of the public to text or send multi-media messages to call for help. Recently, I have come across a number of stories of people using Facebook to contact the police in an emergency. Some of these stories are bizarre, as Facebook police stories often are. For instance, a 29-year-old woman in Minnesota posted to Facebook in January this year that she was being threatened with a gun. Her Facebook friends picked up on this and called

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Talking about the iPlod generation

Published on 25 January 2012 by in Digital Engagement

The last time I blogged about the police use of social media, I was amazed that so many police officers were active users of Twitter – there were 556 back on 19 September 2011. I was so surprised at what was a new phenomenon to me that I coined a new phrase – #Twoppers – for Coppers who tweet. Just four months on and the speed with which police forces across Britain have adopted social media has continued to accelerate. The #iPlod generation, as I now think of them, (thanks @TheCustodySgt) currently numbers 779. @NickKeane, the digital engagement adviser at the National Policing Improvement Agency, is the man who keeps score. So comprehensively have police services embraced Twitter that Nick  maintains eight different lists; in addition to UKCOPs who Tweet, there are City Centre Cops, Helicops, Corporate Force Twitter Accounts, not forgetting spoof accounts (of whom @SirIanBlair is my favourite). But

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It’s Payback time

Published on 27 January 2012 by in Digital Engagement

For most organisations, websites are their shop window – the face they show to the world. Most of us now, when we need to find out about any sort of business or company – private, public or voluntary – head straight to Google and search for their website – often in the expectation that it will show up in the search bar before we have finished typing. I have at least a couple of conversations a week when I am urging Probation Trusts to overhaul their websites, update their content and make it more interactive and online-friendly; the critical first step before integrating social media so that website visitors can disseminate Trusts’ work for them. Sometimes, I get an uninterested response: “What’s the point – we’ve analysed our hits and most of them are people looking for a job or wanting to

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What Linford Christie can teach us about social media

Published on 10 January 2012 by in Digital Engagement

Linford Christie was a great sprinter, winning Commonwealth and European gold medals on a regular basis. However, it wasn’t until late in his career that he stepped up to the very top level and became world and Olympic Champion. When he won the 100m Gold at the Barcelona Olympics he was 32 years old – four years older than all previous winners. According to athletics folklore, one of the main reasons for this was that he dramatically improved his starting technique after his training partner Colin Jackson (also World and Olympic champion at 110m hurdles) told him to start on the B of Bang! Christie was able to shave  a tenth of a second off his start, enough to convert Silver and Bronze medals into the coveted Gold. To use social media successfully, you have to be equally quick off

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Ever thought of becoming a curation officer?

Published on 3 January 2012 by in Digital Engagement

The first episode of the BBC’s new drama about the probation service, Public Enemies, airs tonight. Last week I blogged about how this rare prime time exposure provides probation trusts with a great opportunity to communicate to the general public exactly what they do. We know from the trailer that the storyline – Probation Officer, (Anna Friel), supervises released murderer (Daniel Mays) and risks her career to help him prove his innocence – is unlikely to be troubled by too much attention to detail on the realities of the criminal justice system. Nevertheless, I argued that such a high profile TV show gave probation trusts and their PR workers the chance to inform the general public about what the probation service does. That trusts do a lot more than supervise community payback and that the heart of their work is about

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The probation service: public friend

Published on 29 December 2011 by in Digital Engagement

The BBC airs its new three-part drama, Public Enemies, about the relationship between a probation officer and a newly released murderer next Tuesday – Thursday 3- 5 January. It provides a great opportunity for probation trusts to communicate to the general public just exactly what it is the probation service does. I have written previously about how rarely the probation service is featured in film and TV in stark contrast to the police, prison, and court services, not forgetting the ubiquitous Crime Scene Investigators. This lack of exposure is compounded by the fact that although the probation service is pivotal to the criminal justice system, it is by far the smallest service and spends little on public relations. Indeed, most probation trusts have one person PR departments, with some sharing staff across trust boundaries and two trusts with no outward

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#researchmethods: Using social media for social research

Published on 12 September 2011 by in Digital Engagement, Social Media Innovation

I recently evaluated a pilot project which used online surveys to get local peoples’ views on policing priorities (A virtual approach can mean real engagement). As part of the evaluation, I utilised web-based survey software to gather the views of participants. It was quick and easy to use and succeeded in getting a very high response rate. This got me thinking about other ways of using social media in social research. I was inspired by the new Fixmytransport website which aims to identify common meltdown points in Britain’s public transport system and lobby to get things changed. Developed under the aegis of Mysociety, responsible for a great range of resources including the simplest way to make a freedom of information request (Whatdotheyknow?), members of the public are encouraged to report public transport problems online and find people responsible so that

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Police and social media: The rise of the twoppers

Published on 19 September 2011 by in Digital Engagement

There has been endless media coverage on the use of social networks in the recent riots. A more considered debate is now emerging and the call for emergency powers to close down social media in times of unrest has been pretty much put to bed. However, there remains an abiding impression that looters used Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry Messaging to outflank the police, who were at a loss how to respond. However, many police services have been working on digital engagement for some time now and several actively used Twitter and other online approaches during the riots. A number of police services are starting to use Twitter to communicate with their local communities and give a much clearer idea of the work that they do. In addition to the very well-publicised Greater Manchester Police Twitter Day, there are a number

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Defending the faith: probation trusts and the effective use of social media

Published on 13 December 2011 by in Digital Engagement

All through human history and across different cultures, some of the most persistent stories concern the triumph of the under-dog; David against Goliath (one of the most popular tales of both the Bible and the Qur’an), the 300 Spartans facing the might of Xerxes’ army at Thermopylae, through to the  Seven Samurai and Magnificent Seven defending their villages from warlords and bandits. Probation trusts see themselves pretty much as underdogs at the moment, needing to defend themselves against much larger, more powerful foes. No-one knows to what extent the work of the probation service will be put out to tender, but the first competition for community payback is underway and there are plans to outsource “approved premises”, as probation hostels are known, and domestic violence work. The joint Ministry of Justice/NOMS review of the probation service promised (but unlikely to be delivered) before

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What does the probation service actually do?

Published on 26 September 2011 by in Digital Engagement

Next month sees the broadcast of a new three-part drama on BBC1. Public Enemies, written by Tony Marchant, features the story of 28 year old Eddie (Daniel Mays) who is released from prison after serving ten years for murder. He attempts to settle back into his old community – a community that doesn’t want him. One of the few people he can talk to is his probation officer, Paula (Anna Friel), a woman who’s only recently come back to work after a suspension: one of her offenders murdered again while under her supervision. Perhaps the most unusual thing about this new show is that it features a probation officer in a leading role. There are thousands of movies and TV shows centred on the criminal justice system. In recent years the focus has broadened beyond police officers and defence lawyers

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© Russell Webster 2011/12