The COPS Office wants to connect with you!
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) wants to connect with you! The office is trying to take a new approach to connecting with the field: social media. We are coming a little late to the show, but we are ready to connect with all of you. Social media allows us to engage with local and state law enforcement, stakeholders, and Congressional offices on the most pressing issues in law enforcement. In this new age of technology, the COPS Office is trying to become more accessible to the field and promote the community policing philosophy to a wider audience.
Social media has allowed law enforcement agencies as a group to connect with their communities virtually. During these new technological times, social media has allowed law enforcement agencies across America to give instant information to their constituents and in turn receive information from the community via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other prominent social media platforms. The Social Media, Internet and Law Enforcement (SMILE) Conference, a leading social media resource for law enforcement, gives departments the opportunity to connect with one another and to cultivate new ideas and approaches to use on social media in their neighborhoods to help prevent crime. Other organizations that provide information and ideas are the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Center for Social Media as well as PoliceOne’s Social Media for Cops page.
The COPS Office is starting to increase its social media presence to become more transparent, accessible, and able to provide information about what the office is doing to advance community policing on a daily basis. We have recently reached 1,000 followers on Twitter and steadily climbing, while our Facebook account has reached almost 5,000 likes. The COPS Office recently developed a YouTube channel where, in the coming months, we will provide Director’s remarks, COPS 20th Anniversary celebratory event footage, and grant information that will help current grantees keep up to date as new information comes out. The COPS Office is committed to connecting with the field through our social media outlets. We are trying to reach 5,000 followers on Twitter; please follow us and get all the up-to-date information about the COPS Office!
Suggestions for social media:
Follow us on Twitter: @COPSOffice
Like us on Facebook: “DOJ COPS”
Nikita Purdy
Communication Specialist
COPS Office
Body-Worn Camera Program | GPS and Credit Card Skimming | Colorado Springs Volunteer Program | COPS Office Social Media | Violent Extremism in the Digital Age | Promising Practices in DEC