Follow @wmpolice – how West Midlands Police engages with communities

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. Locally specific accounts: 

• Birmingham South Specials - @BhamSSpecials
• Birmingham University PC - @BrumUniCop

Local 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:

WMP also hosts regular Twitter events that are featured on the main website. A Twitter event entails a day being dedicated to tweeting on different aspects of the work of the police force such as: activity at courts, custody blocks and Forensic Scene Investigations; and the kinds of ‘999’ emergency calls received by the force.   One such day was used to inform the public about the custody cells in Birmingham Police Station. Custody Sergeants used the WMP Twitter feed throughout a day to explain their role, explain the rights of suspects, the food prisoners receive and protocols that have to be followed. The WMP Flickr account was also used to publish photographs (like those below) to provide a visual illustration of the matters discussed. This Twitter event was further publicised in a BBC news article – click here to read it. 

Facebook: The main Facebook site of WMP has a discussion board that is used mainly for questions about reporting crime and neighbourhood issues. Additionally, cities and towns such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Coventry each have their own local Facebook site that is managed by communications officers. These local sites are regularly updated with more local information. Unlike on Twitter, the force doesn’t have Facebook sites at neighbourhood level. This is because it is far more time demanding for Facebook profiles to be maintained.

All WMP Facebook pages are used to promote positive community stories and proactive crime prevention advice. On a number of occasions the force has used Facebook to aid major investigations. For example, victims of murder often have tribute sites on Facebook, and WMP has posted information directly on these sites to appeal for witnesses within the victim’s social groups.

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. 

Rate Your Local Police: In July 2010, WMP launched ‘Rate Your Local Police’. This website allows people to give their opinions on police issues. Comments submitted are then answered by the Professional Standards Department, in conjunction with LPUs and departments. 

Live web chats: New technologies have also created opportunities to extend the reach of traditional meetings. Technology, such as bambuser allow for live video feeds to be created and for live web chats to be held on WMP websites – with officers answering questions from local people and listening to concerns that they may wish to raise. This technology offers people who may not ordinarily access meetings (because of commitments, disabilities, etc.,) the opportunity to participate. The screenshot of a Live Chat held by an inspector from the Birmingham West & Central LPU illustrates how a Live Chat works.

Flickr: In 2011, WMP launched its own page on the photo sharing social network Flickr. The page allows the force to give the public an insight into the variety of activities and projects being carried out across the force.  In January 2012 the force launched a ‘photo a day’ campaign on the site. Each day a new image showing a different aspect of the force is added – below is an illustration of the available photos

The use of social media has helped the force to engage with communities to a greater extent. It has provided the force with an opportunity to talk to people in ways that are not possible through other media. In particular, YouTube and Flickr provide the force with an opportunity to create more visual communication avenues that may appeal to a new audience. Social media are increasingly being used by members of the public and media to assist the force.  Most tweets sent out by officers are retweeted (forwarded by followers onto their contacts) and regularly result in follow-up queries from journalists asking for more information about incidents. One such example occurred when three men were wanted in relation to a crime in Birmingham and the force posted a message on its Facebook and Twitter accounts appealing for information, asking who they might be. This was then posted by ‘Birmingham Updates’, which shares news and info about Birmingham, to its 94,009 followers on Facebook and 4,097 followers on Twitter. Within several minutes there were hundreds of comments from people who said they knew the individuals and provided information to the police. A short time later, three individuals voluntarily handed themselves in to the police. 

Facebook: The West Midlands Police Facebook site has 17,219 ‘likes’ – people that follow the account. The 7 local Facebook sites have a total of 18,761 followers. 

Twitter: The @WMPolice Twitter account has: 

• sent 16,545 messages; and
• reached 69,003 followers

The force has 150 local Twitter sites that have a combined total of 245,000 followers.

The WMPolice YouTube page: Video viewing can range from several hundred through to tens of thousands, with the highest viewed video receiving 566,307 views, and the total number of views exceeding 3,400,000 views.

Online web chat meetings: The most popular webchat so far has been one on counter terrorism, which had 1,422 views.

Flickr: A total of 787 photos have been uploaded and there have been 1.3 million views views of the WMP Flickr account. 

The use of social media has not meant a reduction in traditional press work – in fact, quite the opposite. As journalists pick up more information through social media, the Corporate Communications Department now receives more requests for information. At the same time, the use of social media has not required recruitment of new staff, who would be dedicated to communicating on social media all day - often a concern to public agencies with no experience in social media. In fact, staff have undertaken social media activities as part of their daily work. 

There is no cash budget for this work – staff time on social media forms a core part of the role of everyone in the Corporate Communications Department.  Individual’s dedication to their social media responsibility will effect the amount of time they contribute. 

While social media have brought no cashable savings, they have meant that WMP can reach a huge number of individuals at low cost and induce behaviour change which creates savings. For example, in the UK there is a 999 emergency number and a 101 non-emergency number through which the police can be contacted.  On 1 February 2013 WMP held a tweetathon to document the 999 calls it receives on an average day. This highlighted how it often received inappropriate calls to the 999 number, wasting police time and money. The campaign was picked up by celebrity Peter Schofield (who has 2,200,888 followers) and he retweeted many of most shocking tweets - and also sent the tweet below. This meant that the tweets by West Midlands Police were able to reach over 2 million people. The campaign had an impact on decreasing the number of calls received by the 999 number and encouraged more people to call the 101 number.