The power of the tweet – Policing Twitter Tips

Whilst updating Surrey Police mobile phones with new software by accident a wrong message was sent out on Twitter by us about police dealing with a waterway incident in Surrey Police area. Within minutes the press were on the phone asking for more information. It was explained to them that it was a one off error and that all further messages would be live. They were happy.

What I was shocked about was the speed in which the press responded to a message being sent out by Neighbourhood Police Officers on twitter. We all know how hard it is to get the press to publish good news or interesting stories. You send messages to your press office or officer who then contact the paper who may contact you next week.

If you tell your local Newspapers you are using twitter they will follow you. On quiet news weeks they will publish or retweets to their followers, some of the tweets about events you are arranging or incidents you dealt with.

Now I know some of the more traditionalists in the police organisation will be horrified about this development but it is no different to a Neighbourhood officer sending out a Community newsletter covering planned events and reporting on recent arrests and local initiatives. It's just a bit faster and reaches more people. The Policing Charter requires Neighbourhood officers to engage with the public and that includes keeping them informed of what there police have been doing on their behalf and plan to do in the future.