Why does a law enforcement princess tweet?
Twitter is like a multi-threaded, multi-coloured tapestry, with a million extra threads being weaved every second. Sometimes the only way to view it, the only way to keep up, is pick the threads you like the colour of and follow those.
I didn’t know what I wanted nor what I would get when i joined Twitter. I had heard it mentioned, promoted, and it struck me – living alone in a new city with few local friends – as an interesting thing to sign up to. I believe I naively thought I would make a few friends and possibly find some new hobbies. How very wrong I was.
Police & Twitter, Spanish Style
Did you know that the Spanish national police force Twitter account @policia has over half a million followers? Only the FBI has more. Police display the national Twitter handle on their uniforms and their patrol cars. Spanish Police use Twitter differently from British Police – the focus is not on engaging with individual members of the public but on gathering intelligence – frequently to target drug dealers.
Police historian Brian Williams @BriW74: “Why I tweet”
I have learned and gained information faster than I can imagine being able to do anywhere else, I have challenged peoples’ perceptions on policing issues and had my own challenged. This is important. Twitter loses it power if it acts merely an echo chamber for your own views. I have got far more out of tweeting than I ever thought I would. I have made and continue to make excellent contacts, particularly in the police tweeter world, many of whom I would not have managed to reach if not for twitter. I have made friendships with people that simply would not have happened without Twitter. One of these friends described me as “An historian masquerading as a police officer” I like that description!
How to use Social Media to promote your event
How to use Social Media to promote your event. This Infographic shows all the key elements of ABC: Announce, Broadcast, Consolidate approach in one easy to follow form.
Police, Twitter and major incidents
Any major incident provokes a firestorm of reaction on Twitter and other social media outlets. In the wake of events such as the terrorist killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich what should the police be doing online. Amongst the general noise and bot-generated confusion, there are opportunities to keep the public reliably informed and gather some key intelligence.
Promote your event with social media. Step 3: Consolidate
This is the third in a mini-series on how to use social media to extend the reach of your event and take people with you on a journey of discovery about the work your organisation does. There are plenty of opportunities to consolidate learning and engage new supporters after your event.
Promote your event with social media. Step 2: Broadcast
Using social media on the day. If you followed the advice in part one of this series, you will already have created your hashtag for your event and been tweeting it regularly to create a sense of anticipation. The day before and on the actual morning of the event make sure that you have lined up your presenters and key supporters to tweet that it is happening today and that anyone who can’t make it, can catch up with developments by following the hashtag. Your next decision is whether to use a Twitter Wall…
How to promote your event with social media. Step 1: Announce
How to promote your event with social media. Step 1: Announce. First in a 3-part series on how to use social media to make your conference, seminar or fundraiser as successful as possible. Start by creating your hashtag…
Send me directly to jail
Finally Friday is an occasional series of posts which look at the lighter side of life. In particular, I delight in rounding up examples of criminals whose own stupidity is the main reason they were brought to justice. There have been a couple of distinctive examples over the last month featuring drug dealers and reckless drivers who incriminated themselves in ways only available in the digital age.
How drug treatment is following drug dealing onto the internet
The internet has revolutionised the way that drugs are created and sold. There is an increasing number of online drug dealing sites and now treatment is getting in on the online act with a proliferation of computer assisted therapies.
Police Inspector @SimonJGuilfoyle says Twitter proves men can multi-task
Police Inspector @SimonJGuilfoyle says Twitter proves men can multi-task. One thing I particularly like about twitter is that it affords the previously unheard of opportunity to interact with people at all levels in police forces, as well as those from totally different backgrounds, locations and viewpoints. I’ve had some great debates with a range of extremely interesting people, without the formalities inherent in hierarchies or social constructs.
Police and public combine on social media to find missing persons
Social media – and Twitter in particular – is becoming the mainstream way of locating missing people. I was slightly surprised when I reviewed five UK police Facebook pages recently and found that a third of the most popular posts related to missing persons. It’s no surprise that police use social media for this purpose though. I’ve come across two successful outcomes in the last month.
