- 
      - **  Home
      - **   About Us
      - **  Archives
      - **  News
      - **  Publications

### Contact Us

To provide feedback on the Community Policing Dispatch, e-mail the editorial board at CPDispatch@usdoj.gov.

To obtain details on COPS Office programs, publications, and resources, contact the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 or AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov

**U.S. Department of Justice**        Office of Community Oriented Policing Services            145 N Street, N.E.       Washington, DC 20530      www.cops.usdoj.gov×         Menu         - Home
- About Us
- Archives
- News
- Publications
- Contact Us
**Social Media as aCrime Reduction Tool**
  May 2018 | Volume 11 | Issue 5

*Sgt Chris Cognac is with the Hawthorne  California Police Department and oversees the Coffee with a Cop program.*

Community Policing is about engaging and listening to your  community and developing an appropriate crime reduction strategy accordingly. There  are many “tools” agencies can use to engage communities but none as unique and  powerful as social media.  Social Media  is often overlooked when it comes to community policing and crime reduction but  it should not be, in fact it should be an integral part of your agencies  overall communications strategy.

 A good social media program can have a significant impact on  crime as well. Sgt Jason Cullum of the Evansville Indiana Police Department  states “the use of social media has helped us identify suspects within minutes  of an image being posted. The thought of being featured on a social media post  is very unappealing to criminals and especially our youth who truly understand  the viral nature of social media.”

The Hawthorne California Police Department has been very active on social media for  the last 8 years. HPD started out like many agencies did, by using Twitter.  Twitter allowed our department to disseminate information to the public like  never before. We did not have to rely on traditional media anymore to get our  “message” out to the public. Twitter is great at putting information out (even  with its 140 character limit), but not so great at us being able to “listen” to  our community.

We started with Facebook in 2011, there were only a handful of  police agencies using it at the time and initially we used it much like Twitter  to put information out to the public. The beauty of Facebook is the ease of use  and the way that photos can be easily shared on your page. The fact that  Facebook postings could easily be responded to by the public provided a  fantastic platform for public “two way” communication. Facebook was not however  without its issues and presented a whole new set of problems when dealing with  anti-police “haters” and the 1st amendment. We learned to accept the  good with the bad and began to realize that 90 percent of the public supported  our efforts on Facebook and they began to defend us as well. Facebook has  enabled us to showcase our community, officers and city in a positive light  that WE controlled, we no longer had to hope the media “gets it right.”

Social Media continues to evolve and we have learned that we  must continue to evolve and control our image and brand and message with each  new platform such as Instagram and Snapchat. We learn the subtle nuances of  each and target our message to the specific user bases demographics. Some of  the things we have learned through trial and error have become best practices  for us at HPD as well as some of the agencies around the world that we have  helped in starting and crafting a social media presence.

Here are some best practices and ideas for your agency to  help implement and craft a successful social media program. 
- Don’t be afraid to be “different”: Agencies such  as Sarasota Florida , Pasco Washington and St Anthony Minnesota  all have hugely successful social media  programs. They take smart but calculated risks and post content that is not the  “typical” police type information, i.e. “this suspect is wanted” “traffic alert  at Main Street” postings. Successful social media programs humanize officers,  show the community in a good light as well as have a sense of humor because  sometimes a photo of cops eating a donut is just funny, so go ahead and post  it.     
- Not everyone will “like” you, understand and  accept criticism online.  Sometimes  people just want a voice and to be heard. By showing transparency your agency  will be practicing procedural justice and helping to build trust in your community.      
- Have a good disclaimer on your page telling  users that they need to adhere to civil guidelines set forth in the disclaimer.  You can see a good example at https://hawthornepolice.com/disclaimer    
- Start small; don’t expect social media success  overnight, your social media presence will always be a work in progress. Consider  starting on a single platform such as Facebook or Instagram.  
- Make sure your social media team understands the  vision of what your agency wants to project for each social media platform and  understand the differences between Snapchat, Nextdoor and Facebook etc. and understand  that they are not the same, so the message should be tailored accordingly.   
- Be responsive but don’t create an expectation  that citizens can post a message on social media and expect an immediate  response. A general rule is never respond more than twice to a posting and  don’t get into “arguments” give the appropriate information and move on. 
-  Photos  work wonders, take the extra time to craft good photos and video. Don’t post  out of focus photos or lots of “posed” shots. Selfies are great, people smile  and laugh when they take selfies so don’t be afraid of them. Don’t post too  many photos, save some good ones for a rainy day.
- Empower and trust your social media team, let  them do what they do best and do not micro manage the social media accounts. 
- “Stalk” other police social media accounts  around the world, there are some very good ones and you will get some great  ideas just from following them.       

So if your agency does not have a social media program, they  need to seriously consider starting one because they are missing out on a great  tool for community policing and the ability to disseminate information and  reduce crime. The COPS Office is here to help your agency and can put you in  touch w experts to guide you through the process. Good luck and “see you” soon  on social media.

Sgt Chris  Cognac          Hawthorne  Police Department (CA)

Tweet
**Subscribe to Email Updates**
To sign up for monthly updates or to access your subscriber preferences, please enter your email address in the Subscribe box.
Email
The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

**Explore**
- Home
- About Us
- Archives
- News
- Publications
- Contact Us
**Connect With Us**
Want to stay connected with the COPS office?             Follow us on social media!
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
 FOIA 

 No FEAR Act 

 Open Government 

 Plain Writing 

 USA.gov 

 Legal Policies and Disclaimers 

 Language Access Plan 

 DOJ Privacy Policy