Follow @wmpolice – how West Midlands Police engages with communities

Learning points

The key message from Hilary Hopkers is: “Feel the fear BUT do it! It’s a bigger risk for an organisation NOT to use social media and miss out on the conversations that go on in their community”. 

The experience of WMP is that social media can be scary but, if risks are managed and there is a clear policy to ensure that personnel act appropriately, there are lots of benefits. As Hilary tends to advise new social media users “A good rule of thumb is: if you wouldn’t say that to a member of the public face-to-face or give that information to a traditional media outlet, then don’t publish it on social media”. 

Social media tends to ‘police itself’, as inappropriate behaviour by an organisation is noticed and commented on. You quickly learn! Social media is a medium to create trust and, where a police force has greater levels of trust, it is more likely to be able to gather intelligence, which is particularly important when major incidents occur.