High-tech approach, high-yield benefits
There are a number of ways in which organizations can use social media, and the uses are expanding just as fast as the technologies themselves. Public safety agencies can also capture the power of social media to move toward high performance in policing. Here are just some of the ways how:
Intelligence capture – When individuals make threats or articulate criminal activity, who is listening? It is nearly impossible for police professionals to track every interaction that occurs on social media forums. Social media analytics can pore through vast amounts of social media data to uncover patterns and analyze sentiment. By capturing open source intelligence through analytics, agencies can more adeptly discover trends and monitor threats as they grow in significance.
Proactive, predictive policing – The best way to fight crime is to prevent it. By identifying emerging trends or issues in real time, police forces can deploy staff on the spot to mitigate crises or alert citizens of pending danger. The rapid response enabled through social media can help police forces improve outcomes and reduce crime. Furthermore they can cut costs by being more efficient and productive.
Reactive policing – Just as social media leaves a “breadcrumb” trail to identify looming criminal behavior, it also leaves a trail of evidence after a crime has been committed. Police can identify which social media accounts were used to identify a target and a time, and check which users forwarded, “retweeted” or acknowledged the information. In cases when photos were taken at the actual crime scene, police can disseminate these images via a digital “wanted” poster to engage the public in identifying the perpetrators(s).
Public outreach and connecting with the community – Social media enables word of mouth at scale. It’s a new channel by which to share prevention advice, build trust and connect with the youth market and people who may otherwise be difficult to reach. Public safety organizations can also gather insights about negative sentiments that are developing, and quickly engage the public to reverse any adverse publicity or opinions.