Social media in law enforcement is a hot topic right now and a growing trend across all modern police agencies in the US, Canada, and Europe. More and more departments are setting up Facebook pages, creating Twitter accounts, and designing their own MySpace profiles. But, often, the discussion stops there: start sending Tweets, get Facebook friends, and your good, right? You have now reached out to the public and they are listening, right?
In some cases, yes. There are a number of law enforcement agencies who really “get” social media and the power it has to engage citizens. They use their department’s social networks to their fullest advantage. There are others who send a few tweets and then give up. But no matter how or what you use, the top three most robust tools for citizen interaction—Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace—are not the only sites that offer citizen interaction online.
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The opening paragraph of a recent eMarketer article carries much implication for law enforcement:
Brand marketers want consumers to follow them to build buzz and engagement, but social media users often desire something in return. What they’ve come to expect is a good deal, but many consumers—including the most active users of social sites—are also interested in deeper engagement.
No, a law enforcement agency doesn’t offer “good deals” on the purchase of goods or services. It does, however, tend to deliver on expectation: that government communication will be, well, official. Dry. Bland. Safe. When what followers really want is more two-way interaction.
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VisualPlace is a 6-month proof of concept testing different ways to visualize government data in Victoria, Australia. According to the website:
VisualPlace brings together information from a wide variety of sources from service locations to demographic data to allow you to create custom maps.
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