Benefits Of Social Media In Law Enforcement

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The Benefits of Social Media within Law Enforcement
Social media and Law Enforcement

The media has always played a major role in the work that law enforcement do. But as times have changed, the way in which information is received has also changed. Using social media and the internet, information can now be shared quicker and more frequently than any newspapers, TV show airing, and radio broadcast could ever do.
Law enforcement uses the media to relay information to the public. News outlets like those on local television only have a limited amount of time to put out information. Because of this short time frame, the news outlets must choose what information they want to speak on and what gets left out. Using social media, law enforcement
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Law Enforcement Technology, 43 (11), 36-37, 2016)
Ten years ago, just seven percent of the U.S. population used one or more social media platforms. Now, 76 percent of Americans who have access to the Internet also utilize social media sites (Clancy, 2016). In a 2016 study conducted by Pew Research Center, they found that 62 percent of adults receive their news from some sort of social media outlet and that eighteen percent receive news information from social media on a regular basis (Clancy, 2016).
Ways in which law enforcement uses social
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This helps by allowing those that may feel uncomfortable meeting with police face to face. This is helpful because individuals can respond to posts made by agencies about missing persons, most wanted lists, and other things anywhere right from their phone.
In 2014 Alton, IL police took to social media after a string of car burglaries took place in one of their communities. Days after, Alton police said they received an anonymous tip on their Facebook account that leads to them solving sixteen open cases and the arrest of six juveniles and three adults. Alton police say social media played a major role in solving these cases (Culley, 2014).
Social media as a communications tool has been proven to work very well, as noted in a recent report which found that of those surveyed by IACP in 2015, "83.5 percent of agencies state that social media has improved police-community relations in their jurisdiction” (Clancy, 2016). Because of the benefits, Social media proved law enforcement has assisted in increasing transparency; those not in the domain of police operations can now see some of the day to day activities of their officers (Clancy, 2016). This can help in improving the image which law enforcement wish to portray.
Social Media. Not just Twitter and