Learning to Speak "Social Media"

• NCJ Number: 242267
• Author(s): National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
• Date Published: September 2012
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Operate the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) - National Center

Annotation

This article discusses training designed for law enforcement officers regarding social media.

Abstract

For agencies looking for help for officers to embrace technology, the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions (MPCTC) has developed a training program pertaining to social media policy. The up-to-6-hour MPCTC training program can be customized to meet any agency’s needs. Regardless of how the MPCTC training is customized, key points of the training include: embracing the technology, setting policies that are reasonable, educating officers about professional online behavior and why this behavior matters, and they should not publish anything that you would not want strangers to be able to access. The goal of the initiative is to build the capacity of law enforcement to use social media effectively but safely. After an overview, the training addresses the importance of having a policy and how social media use pertains to the individual officers in both their private and professional lives. The MPCTC training also looks at the use of search engines, how information about individuals can be posted on the Internet without their knowledge, the use of video and music, and the difference between a microblog and a blog (a blog is an online journal, a microblog is something like Twitter or Tumblr). The goal is to include all the basics about social media that agencies and officers may not know.