Can You Use the Web 2.0 Tools Your Citizens Are Already Using?

A recent study conducted by the Gulf States Regional Center for Public Safety Innovations, surveyed 530 law enforcement professionals from across the US to determine their agency’s use or familiarity with web 2.0 tools. Results showed that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies had very little or absolutely no knowledge of web 2.0 tools. However, on the upside, 78% of respondents said web 2.0 training and tools would be valuable to their agency.

So where is the disconnect? Why do many agencies think adopting web 2.0 tools would be valuable, but so few have actually done it? Instead of attacking law enforcement agencies for being behind the times, let’s consider the fact that, although many agencies want to use them, web 2.0 tools raise a lot of concerns for law enforcement, including budget, security, and information control.

Two stories published today actually highlight ways for law enforcement to slowly dip their toes in the social media pool before jumping in the deep end. At Cops 2.0, Christa Miller just posted an interview she had with Sgt. Tom Le Veque of the Arcadia, CA, PD, who started a blog based in the Arcadia Police Officer’s Association instead of his local department. The result was a blog that could interact with the public without being formally endorsed by the police department, so it didn’t have to go through all the official channels, and the department didn’t have to push any resources toward it.

As well, there is a story today out of Toronto, Canada, covering Sgt. Tim Burrows’ use of Twitter as a public communication tool. At first, he started the account so that local media would know that officers were on the way to an accident scene and so he could conduct basic scene management. But the local media were not the only ones who were listening to his tweets. In a few short months, Sgt. Burrows had 2,300 Twitter followers from the community, so he began tweeting safety tips and publishing other useful information for the community at large. Again, all this without massive resources or security concerns. And the response from the community shows that average citizens are ready and waiting for the information.

The fact is, the world is changing. The way that average citizens get their information is changing from nightly TV news and the morning paper, to RSS feeds, Twitter, CrimeReports, and Facebook. Not only is the public hungry for this information, but they are beginning to think of these information resources as a basic—not an “extra”—service.

Your citizens are already using these sources. Can you use these web 2.0 tools to get official information to your citizens before they start looking for information from another source?

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Tagged as: community involvement, community policing, concerned citizens, crime, crime prevention, crime reduction, crime reporting, crimereports.com, data sharing, Facebook, information, information sharing, intelligence led policing, internet, law enforcement, law enforcement tools, police, public safety, social networking, technology, transparency, Twitter, web 2.0