The Pros And Cons Of Social Media

The media is also another of the greatest challenges for law enforcement. The media never shows the whole story. Chances are the media doesn’t even know the whole story; yet officers are judged by what the media portrays. You can’t hear a news report or even read a newspaper without the race of an individual being identified. This is only fueling the race issue for everyone. It is tearing communities apart. In this aspect, social media appears to be a double edged sword. It can help law enforcement by connecting with the public, tracking criminals, and gathering Intel but it also puts every word or action by an

According to a survey report done by the Kelly services with 170,000 people from 30 different countries, 55% of all the participants believe that the use of social media for both the personal and professional posts can cause problems in the workplace (Bennett, 2012). According to a study done by the proof point, many US companies that have hired the employees more than 1000 in number face a real problem with their employees to use social media (Ostrow 2009). Almost 17% of these companies had faced serious disrepute due to the offensive comments on the social media websites (Ostrow 2009). Almost 13% of the US companies have investigated the use of personal text messages that have been found to infringe the company’s law (Ostrow 2009).

In one study, during and after a five year period after a social media post went viral indicating that a particular police department used excessive force, the number of police reports and citizen complaints decreased about 10%. This research implies that police officers does in fact reacts to social media posting and are likely to decrease excessive force used on the job due to being watch all the time. As expected, this research make officers and citizens more aware of the huge impact social media has on the use of excessive force by police. In addition, this research proposal should or may encourage officers to avoid police brutality while on the job in unnecessary situations. Why? Because their actions will be posted to social media and millions of people will be able to form their opinions and perceptions. What this also mean is citizens cannot be too sensitive to police interaction with the public (if the situation is cause to use excessive force) because anything can go viral and can create a broader situation of hostility and distrust between our protectors (police officers) and

Police capture and hold their audience attention by using Kaplan and Haenlein’s five points about being social, which are “be active, be interesting, be humble, be unprofessional and be honest.” (Kaplan, Haenlein. 2009, 66) QPS Facebook and Twitter successfully demonstrate the genuine and informative side to QPS social media activity, while their Instagram is strategically developed to be humble and show the human side like their photos of the dog and their graduating recruits.

In years past, those in power have often swayed society's common opinions. The development of social media, however, now provides a powerful voice for the common citizen. Within seconds of a news-worthy incident, people around the country can see an individual’s opinion by simply looking on a smartphone or computer. Along with this steady increase in connectedness has come an increase in criticism and negativity spread on social media. In recent months, many criticize the actions and treatment of individuals by law enforcement officers. Although law enforcement personnel occasionally abuse their power, social media and reports from news networks increasingly influence citizens' attitude and perception towards police who make a living trying

There needs to be policies and guidelines of what is appropriate and not appropriate to be posting on these sites. If an officer is using a social media site while he is on duty, he needs to be diligent in documenting the reason for using it, the site, and relevance to a case or the department.” The use of social media should be managed according to the guidelines presented in the model policy and in line with the agency’s strategy” (ICAP, 2010 p. 6). Social media can in many ways be useful to law enforcement, as they can use it to investigate suspects, give them the ability to find out things that they may not be able to in other ways. It can also cause conflict within the department if inappropriate statements are made about a co-worker or the department itself. Policies and guidelines should be put into place to protect the integrity and character and creditability of both the department and the officers. A training/information class should be required by the department of all new hires and those who are already employed of the benefits and dangers along with the consequences. There should be penalties for misuse of social media sites either on duty or off, including suspensions, fines or even being fired, if any activity is detrimental to the police department, the officer that would take away from what they stand

Cases such as this one shows the increasing use of social media in criminal investigations. Just how often do law enforcements use social media in their line of work? “A nationwide survey conducted last year of 600 law enforcement agencies found that 92 percent use some form of social media. Of those plugged-in agencies, 90 percent use Facebook, 50 percent Twitter and 37 percent YouTube, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police's Center for Social Media findings”.

Social media has become a prominent entity in everyone’s daily lives, and with it, has also bought some pros and cons. The world was shaken on different occasions with countless videos of police brutality. Since social media has become so popular and widespread around America, people filming these arrests of police brutality has now made it mainstream and has brought transparency to the misconduct that police have brought towards civilians. It is not that police misconduct has not been happening, but with the growing age of technology, everything has now come to the forefront and is now being exposed worldwide.

In this age of social media, all our issues as a society finds its way onto the pages of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc.. However, none more poignant than the eroding relationship of everyday American citizens and police commissioned to protect and serve them. Social media has put into the spotlight the behavior of the police as well as the people they serve. Before social media, the events that have flooded the media in recent months, may not have gotten a second glance. However, now every person with a cellphone is a potential witness, willing to share the footage with the world; at the push of a few buttons. Presented with these images, we have to ask ourselves a few obvious questions: Has social

Law enforcement has always been dangerous because officers risk their lives to form a barrier between criminals and society on a daily basis. The inclusion of social media in police work has opened the door to a whole new set of risks. Media seems to be a double-edged sword for law enforcement. On one hand, it has refined police tactics, enabling police departments to evolve from wanted posters to police radio, and from patrol cars to social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. On the other hand, it has allowed criminals to organize and establish extremist groups and influence far more people than previously possible with the intent of causing disruption and violence throughout society.

Today, public safety is more refined, and strategies of communication are a lot quicker. Law enforcement tools have evolved from posters to police radio, patrol cars and social networks, like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Social networking has quickly become a valuable intelligence-gathering tool for law enforcement agencies, also as a supply of proof for defense and prosecution personnel who search Facebook pages, Twitter feeds or YouTube videos seeking to discredit witnesses, establish enforcement bias, hunt proof or establish associations between gang members (Perry, 2014). Some enforcement employees, notably those accustomed to the use of social media frequently communicate with friends or family, typically post material with very little or no thought as to whom could have access to it or how it should be shared. Inappropriate or careless postings on social media sites will impact an agency negatively in many ways. An employee’s statements concerning coworkers as well as the departmental leadership will produce dissension within the work, inappropriate communication, or harm a law enforcement agency’s relationship with the diverse community it serves (Perry, 2014).

Judicial factors: The dynamic and complex issues associated with social media in the workplace has effected the law enforcement organization and its employees. This is especially true when a survey conducted by the Institute for Criminal Justice found that 78 percent of law enforcement respondents had a social media account and of those more than 38 percent identified themselves as policing professionals (Stuart, 2013). As the growth continues, social media has created a blurred divide between constitutional protections and has created exposure to liability and admissibility.

One of the many problems human resource departments have to deal with is social media policies for their employees to follow. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Society for Human Resources Management have been receiving complaints from employees who feel these policies are unethical and imposing on their privacy. Sometimes, an employee might make public social media statements that are of a negative nature concerning their employers. The employer might find out about these online posts and terminate those employees as a result.

The Globe and Mail newspaper article depicts a Toronto police officer using Twitter to encourage students to treat one another with respect, demonstrate to adults that not all cops are bad people, and emphasize the importance of online communications in a technologically developed society. Officer Chris Boddy’s objective is to show respect and interest in the lives of others, to create a positive reputation for himself and his police force.

Almost every firefighter carries a mobile phone and almost every mobile phone has a camera and access to the internet, it has become common place to take pictures and post them on the internet. Having this ability to post on the internet, usually on a social media website such as Facebook or Twitter has caught many fire departments off guard, and now they are scrambling to catch up and develop policies and procedures regulating their employee’s use of this technology. First Amendment rights prohibit the making of any law abridging the freedom of speech, unfortunately, it is all too common to read about a firefighter or ambulance crew member under investigation for a controversial Facebook post. Social media and digital imagery cases pose a serious risk to the reputation of emergency service organizations, not to mention the livelihood of the personnel involved. Cases such as these can create the potential for civil liability and in some cases criminal liability. When a piece of information, picture or video is uploaded to the internet, that information has the potential to be spread around the world within minutes. Social media and digital imagery reveal one challenge facing administrators: creating policies and procedures to protect the agency without violating the employees First Amendment rights.