@Multizone

Public Accountabitlity is becoming an ever growing issue in political and public services as the developments in social media impact upon public interest in public events, as they are being covered on a 24/7 basis. When the public become informed of decisions or events the instinctive reaction is to want to know who is responsible. They want to know whether Authority is commensurate with the responsibility, or vice versa.

In Principle this is nothing new; there is, and has been, an accepted relationship between Authority and Responsibility, in general terms. However current social changes are raising new issues, for example the demand for more local influence at a time when there has been a constant trend towards centralisation and globalisation are raising new causes of tension which need to be managed. It is being recognised increasingly that it is desirable to increase delegation to 'sharp end' providers of goods and services without weakening lines of authority and therefore assigned responsibility. A good illustration of many of these tensions may be seen in the emergency services in general, and in Policing in particular. How can one find the right balance between giving more discretion down through the levels in the police force, right down to the neighbourhood policing teams (NPT's) whilst enabling the Chief Constable to maintain an effective chain of command to meet their responsibilities, both real and perceived by the public.

There are two differing categories of issue to be considered in this context

A) Routine activities - for which protocols, training and guidance can be given in a structured way to deal with most day-to-day activities.

These can be more easily managed within a defined scheduled range of activities - with the use of data/info capture and harvesting techniques using 'smart' phones, internet, and electronic diaries. However most of the existing use of social media by police forces to date, are unidirectional and primarily for PR purposes.

B) Emergencies/Incidents

These happen on a random or unforeseeable basis e.g. flooding or recent shootings, and existing arrangements are not fully adequate.

Key questions now relate to the 'ability' of police forces to use existing capabilities of social media management and interaction mainly in use by organisations in the private sector, to deal with emergency or unpredictable events within their jurisdiction in conjunction with those of their parters which of course includes the public.

The 'ability' of a force (individually or collectively) to use social media in emergency situations will increasingly be seen in terms of the degree to which police forces, at all levels are perceived to meet their responsibilities.