Cops are Cool Too!

Cops are getting pretty swanky these days. Chan, Goggin and Bruce (2010) seemed pretty impressed that they started using the internet and declared it was quite the innovative way of utilising new media to be more accessible and efficient. However, going beyond that, police these days have evolved much beyond mere use of the internet. That’s old news. Going on the NSW Police website, you will notice if you scroll down that they want you to like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter or watch them on Youtube. They really are taking advantage of all the mediums new media have to offer.

Looking at their Twitter page, it seems to be mainly a huge collection of links to press releases. That would be rather handy, I daresay, for your reporter who is on a tight schedule. One only needs to subscribe to the police twitter account to be instantly up to date with whatever new statements they have to say on the matter. Their Facebook page contains a mixed variety of things. Everything from campaign videos, campaign images and other photos to congratulation messages for new recruits can be found there. Another handy way to spread the word, especially if somebody likes this group and gets live feeds of updates! Youtube videos on the police channel also have the usual campaign videos and video press releases. However, scattered throughout the videos is also a whole bunch that show police in action, glorious images of arrests and drug seizures.

Using new media like these may seem a bit like a weird idea. Why can’t cops just go out and do some policing already? Why are they wasting time with this airy fairy stuff? Well the fact is, police have an image to protect (Marsh and Melville, 2009). Look at many developing nations where there is absolutely no trust of the police because their images are so tarnished. Do you think anybody will want to report a crime to them? While we probably aren’t ever going to be in such dire circumstances, it certainly doesn’t hurt to polish up the image a little. Public trust means public co-operation.

There’s also the fact that new media makes everything so convenient. If you have a press release, you can just stick it on Youtube and everybody can see what you have to say. You don’t have to rely on making it on the evening news or anything like that. Also written press releases are available immediately on Twitter – certainly helps getting those pesky reporters off your back!

New media provides great mediums for police to communicate. I, for one, am glad they are tapping into these. It shows me that they bother to get with the times and make things so much more accessible.

Chan, J., Goggin, G., Bruce, J., 2010, Internet Technologies and Criminal Justice, in Jewkes, Y., Yar, M., 2010, Handbook of Internet Crime, Willan Publishing, Devon, pp. 582-596
Marsh, I., Melville, G. 2009, Crime Justice and the Media, Routledge, United Kingdom