Guernsey police embrace social media to broaden reach into the community
Wednesday 3rd October 2012, 5:00PM BST.
Support officer Leo Thomas, who developed the social network links, and Inspector Clare Cuthbert. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 1275098)
USING social media will enable Guernsey Police to better interact with the community, an inspector has said.
The force has recently launched a Facebook page and Twitter profile in order to provide reassurance to crime, crime prevention information, local campaigns and traffic updates.
An appeal on Facebook has already helped with one inquiry into an alleged hit and run on 15 September.
Inspector Clare Cuthbert said social media would help broaden the force’s reach but warned against responding to appeals publicly on the sites.
‘People must not report information on Facebook or Twitter because it could jeopardise future court cases,’ she said. ‘We have done it to allow us to engage with the public in real time.’
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How would reporting information on Facebook or Twitter jeopardise future court cases? As far as the law is concerned, facebook and twitter are considered recorded written statements, much more formal than verbal or passive conversation, the same level as if you were to address an open letter to the police, and a direct message would be akin to writing a closed letter to the police. I suppose this means that every comment would have to be recorded by the police causing them considerably more paperwork, but I think this is a poor excuse given no reason as to why.
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