El Dorado County Sheriff's Office 2017 Annual Report | Page 11

2017 was the first year having a full time Public Information Officer. As technology grows, it is increasingly important to have the PIO staffed and available at all times. There is currently one full time PIO and several trained Sergeants available to assist.

The PIO is the main point of contact with the

media and the public, and responds to major

incidents to distribute accurate and timely

information. The PIO also monitors and

maintains the social media accounts for the

Sheriff’s Office and manages all information

released to the public regarding cases and

current conditions in the county. It is especially

useful in times such as road closures during intense weather conditions and evacuation orders during wildfires.

One of the top priorities of 2017 was to manage and promote the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. With the assistance of the entire Sheriff’s Office

staff, the number of followers has reached over 23,000.

Near the end of 2017, the Sheriff's Office began to utilize Twitter in addition to Facebook. Our Twitter account has seen an increase in followers to over 4,000 by the end of 2017. The goal for 2018 is to increase our social media presence and to continue to grow our agency's amount of contributors to social media accounts.

Field Training Program Accomplishments

16 Active FTO's, including 5 new

trainers!

Successfully trained 5 internal, promotional recruits through academy and FTP

Trained 19 new deputies through the FTP

Provided approximately 15,000 hours of hands-on, field training

Maintained an 80% successful completion rate of the FTP

Field Training Program Topics:

Safety Procedures * Use of Force * Ethics * Vehicle Operation

Community Relations * Report Writing * Leadership * Investigations

Search & Seizure * Law & Codes * Tactical Communication

Public Information Officer

350

120,000

13

Facebook posts made

Comments responded to

Arrests made from tips

8