Follow @wmpolice – how West Midlands Police engages with communities

Change Management

The online presence of WMP began in June 1998 when it launched its website www.west-midlands.police.uk. As internet usage and access has expanded - by 2013 over 52 million internet users in the UK and over 80% of the population regularly use the internet - the force has developed the website further. It underwent a major redesign in April 2010, and again in June 2011.

However, the journey into social media only started in 2008 when WMP launched a YouTube channel to showcase videos produced by the force. The trigger was an individual posting a video about the force that shed it in a negative light. WMP, because it didn’t have a social media presence at the time, couldn’t respond to this video, refute inaccuracies or explain its work. It then realised that conversations about the force were taking place online and that it had to create a presence in order to join in this conversation. The following year WMP launched a Facebook account - facebook.com/westmidlandspolice and, shortly afterwards, a Twitter account - twitter.com/wmpolice. 

As the use of social media increased there was a growing interest amongst officers and staff about using these tools themselves. You might think it would be younger members of the force who would be most interested in using social media. However, the Corporate Communications team found that staff of all ages were interested - and as more and more officers looked to use social media,  the Corporate Communications Department worked with them as ‘champions’ to train others new to the technology.

The growing interest in using new media also led to a clarifying order being issued in 2009 to outline how officers should use various social media, distinguish between professional and personal usage and ensure that personnel would not publish legally sensitive information. In the summer of 2012 this order was replaced by a comprehensive social media policy. The emerging nature of social media means that policies are regularly reviewed and updated. The current social media policy of West Midlands Police can be accessed by clicking here. 

To reduce the likelihood of counterproductive activity, the Corporate Communications Department also monitors social media accounts to ensure conformance to the corporate social media policy and guidance. A tool called CrowdControl HQ is used to facilitate this. The tool allows the force to:

• monitor all accounts; 
• remove content that may be inappropriate; 
• publish messages on all accounts, e.g. in response to major incidents; 
• track the reach of published messages. 

The Communications Department regularly carries out audits of its accounts and their efficacy, and closes unused accounts. 

WMP strives to improve its engagement with its communities by encouraging: 

• a competitive impulse amongst staff members who look to develop campaigns. Examples such as the ‘photo a day’, 24 hour live 999 tweetathon, and ‘questions of the day’ show how this competitive atmosphere has encouraged staff to develop effective engagement and educational campaigns.

• a desire amongst staff to improve their social media presence and not rest on their laurels. Commenting on this Hilary Hopker, Organisational Communications Manager, suggested that the evolving nature of social media means organisations have to stay dynamic and seek to improve constantly. 

• openness to learning from other relevant sites, trends and innovations, so WMP can capitalise on the best ideas. A social media working group has been established to ensure that new practice is transmitted quickly across the force. 

Whereas WMP is able permanently to remove information from its own site, it is possible for information to remain online permanently on social media sites. This can create problems with information (e.g. about a missing person) remaining online after an incident has been resolved, although WMP uses links to try to guide individuals to updated pages on its main website to overcome this possible problem.

How the force communicates and interacts electronically

Websites: The main websites of WMP provide latest news, crime prevention advice, and a search facility to find local neighbourhood teams. Each of the 10 Local Policing Units (LPU) in the West Midlands has its own local website that contains local news, neighbourhood team pages, local contacts, local priorities and feedback on activities to address  priorities. 

Twitter: Alongside the force’s main Twitter account there are accounts for the 10 LPUs (e.g. Birmingham South), the Neighbourhood Teams (e.g. Bournville), accounts for particular activities (e.g. a WMP Football Unit account) and individual officers and staff. 

Using the LPU of South Birmingham as an example, there are the following accounts:  

1. A Birmingham South Twitter account for the Local Police Unit in this local area

2. Neighbourhood Teams

• Bartley Green - twitter.com/Bartleypolice
• Billesley - twitter.com/BillesleyPolice
• Bournville - twitter.com/BournvilleNHT 
• Edgbaston - twitter.com/EdgbastonPolice
• Harborne - twitter.com/HarborneNHT
• Selly Oak - twitter.com/Sellyoakpolice
• Longbridge - twitter.com/LongbridgeWMP

3. Officer and locally specific accounts: 

• PCSO Andy Ryan - @PCSORyanWMP
• Birmingham South Specials - @BhamSSpecials
• Birmingham University PC - @BrumUniCop

Local and officer accounts inform the public about activities in their neighbourhood. The main account automatically publishes press releases published on its main website. Alongside this proactive publicity, the force regularly uses Twitter for appeals (such as missing people) and assistance in crime related cases. 

Here is a selection of tweets to illustrate how the force engages on Twitter: 

YouTube: WMP regularly produces publicity videos to promote crime prevention, and interviews connected with operations. Videos have included; providing business crime prevention tips, footage of street racers in Birmingham after 200 drivers were banned and fined, and showing (below ) the seizure of over £1 million of drugs money and how it would be put back into the community. 

The success of this video site resulted in WMP deciding to become an official partner of YouTube. This provides the force with a greater ability to customise the site and greater functionality – customisation of the page, unlimited running time for videos, the use of links, and greater access to statistical analysis.