Should Law Enforcement Use Social Media

Retired major Robert D. Stuart details the positive and negative effects of social media usage by police officers in "Social Media: Establishing Criteria for Law Enforcement Use". Social media and law enforcement has in fact "broken" the internet a couple of times but only in the most negative of ways. "To combat these risks, law enforcement agencies must adapt to the social media outlets that affect the lives of officers every day. To do so departments must…establish criteria governing their use by law enforcement officers" (137). Stuart is absolutely correct that Law Enforcement agencies should have set protocols in place for their private use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others. However, he does not have clear

First, one should know the article first appeared in an FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin and not the general public as this was issued on the FBI website. It is also notable that this paper was written by a retired officer who did not have to deal with social media as part of his day to day job. Stuart goes on to introduce all forms as social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and Flickr where there are millions and millions of users. He goes on to cite a "2011 survey conducted by the Institute for Criminal Justice Education (ICJE) [which] found that over 78 percent of law enforcement respondents had a social media account. Of those, over 38 percent identified themselves on their profile as policing professionals" (p. 137). By pairing these sentences he shows that law enforcement officers are just like the general public wanting to publish small glimpses of their lives for everyone to view, for everyone to like, for everyone to know just a little bit more about their day to day

He claims that "to their benefits law enforcement agencies can use social media for public relations, crime prevention and criminal investigations" (p.138). This movement of using social media can be seen throughout major, metropolitan cities where the population is so massive that they need all the help they can get. In major cities "social media can provide an invaluable source of information for investigators" (p. 138) in one case in 2011 in Kentucky it solved an unsolved 10 year old murder. In my city, Monterey Park, it has become an inclusive page where the neighborhood can interact and explore and express concerns about activities in the neighborhood. It has also allowed for neighbors to express their gratitude towards the department making law enforcement officers and workers feel appreciated for the work they perform. Most of these social media informs the neighborhood of break-ins, activities and those most wanted criminals. The reason why these pages work though is because there is a clear distinction between business and pleasure. Monterey Park Police Department does not go on and post picture of their private Christmas party, if they did we might discredit all their hard