TRAINING
Law enforcement and
social media
Social media is a form of electronic communi-
cation in which users create online communities
to share information, ideas, personal messages
and other content (Merriam-Webster, 2017). This
mode of communication has become a significant
part of everyday life. From everyday people to the
president of the U.S., social media has become a
MICHAEL A. substantial tool for disseminating information. In
seeing this trend, police departments have now
LABOY
begun to use the great many opportunities that
social media has to offer. This article compares and contrasts
two scholarly articles examining the use of social media in po-
lice departments, including the perceptions communities have
about its use, the ways it is being used and the best audience for
this type of communication.
Rick Ruddell and Nicholas Jones’s article, “Social media and
policing: Matching the message to the audience” (The Journal
of Safer Communities, 2013), and Ryan Spizman and Monica
Miller’s article, “Plugged-in policing: Student perceptions of
law enforcement use of social media” (The Journal of Applied
Psychology in Criminal Justice, 2013), studied the expansion of
social media used by police departments, the different reasons
departments use social media and the perceptions people have
about departments that use social media. Both agreed about
the positive reactions regarding the use of social media by po-
lice departments, but applied different research methods to
achieve this conclusion.
Ruddell and Jones argue that confidence in law enforceme nt
was higher in those who accessed their police department’s so-
cial media outlets, and use decreased with age and increased
with education (p. 68). As many people know, officers who have
a good relationship with their community have greater success
in crime prevention and are awarded with more confidence and
support. Today’s police departments are utilizing social media
outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to reach out to
their communities in order to foster better relationships.
In 2011 and 2012, Ruddell and Jones surveyed community
and university populations in a Canadian community in or-
der to ascertain the characteristics of people who accessed the
social media tools used by law enforcement, along with their
perceptions of the police (p. 65). They found that respondents
aged 18 to 34 years old were more likely to use their police de-
partment’s social media outlets compared to their older coun-
terparts (p. 66). Ruddell and Jones also found a correlation
between satisfaction of a police department and use of depart-
mental social media. This correlation implies that the more
people used the social media provided by police departments,
the more satisfied they would be with the department (p. 68).
When gauging the significance of social media use by police
departments, Ruddell and Jones suggest police departments
should utilize social media whenever possible. Police depart-
ments must stay aware of the findings of the study and tailor
prospective audience messages accordingly. As long as the
proper guidelines are used, police departments will be suc-
cessful in disseminating pertinent information, which, in turn,
leads to better community relations (p. 69).
Spizman and Miller discuss the different ways law enforce-
ment uses social media and community perceptions for each
use. Spizman and Miller surveyed U.S. university students and
asked them to indicate their level of support for 11 scenarios
involving police use of social media, ranging from public safety
announcements to criminal apprehension (p. 105). Scenarios
that scored the highest in support were those pertaining to use
for disseminating pertinent information such as information to
find a missing girl or suspect (p. 107). Scenarios that scored the
lowest in support were those related to privacy expectations,
such as an officer posing as a suspect’s brother in order to gain
information about the suspect (p. 107).
Spizman and Miller conclude community-oriented policing
and involvement could positively affect community satisfac-
tion and perceptions of the police (p. 112). Police departments,
whenever possible, should readily use social media actions that
promote community involvement, as opposed to those that
arguably deceive or violate privacy (p. 115).
Social media usage is not going away, because it has rapidly
developed into a quick and easy way to distribute information.
Both articles conclude that police departments that utilize so-
cial media are among the most highly regarded, but each ar-
rives at this conclusion through different means.
Ruddell and Jones researched the people who would utilize
the services provided by police department social media outlets
and their impressions, whereas Spizman and Miller researched
what parts of the police social media apparatus younger people
like. Both articles used surveys, but Spizman and Miller used
a more limited pool of respondents: college students; Ruddell
and Jones used a wider sample: college students and surround-
ing community members.
Both articles conclude younger people will use law enforce-
ment social media. When discussing their respondents’ an-
swers, Spizman and Miller state that some participants thought
social media was a better tool than traditional media for con-
veying information to younger people (p. 109). Ruddell and
Jones believe, “…the audience that accesses these sites will be
younger, better educated and have more confidence and sat-
isfaction with the police” (p. 69). Notably, Spizman and Miller
did not provide any empirical data supporting or refuting the
claims of higher education and previous confidence in law en-
forcement affecting use of police social media. Both articles ar-
gue that, as police departments mature and adapt to the grow-
ing use of technology in everyday life, they will have to utilize
social media to better serve their communities. d
Michael Laboy is a member of Hillsborough Township Local 205.
He holds a B.A. in Justice Studies, with a concentration in Justice
Systems, from Montclair State University, and is completing his
Master’s in Leadership and Public Administration at Centenary
University.
www.njcopsmagazine.com
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