Running head: POLICY DEVELOPMENT 1

Policy Development

Name:

Institution:
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Introduction

Law Enforcement Executives are constantly facing situations in which employee

misconduct is occurring through social media. Police Officers are accessing social media from

their workstations and patrol cars during their shifts. Police Officers are posting information that

is unbecoming for an officer as well as degrading and disrespectful to the profession. In respect

to not violating the officer’s civil rights we must implement policies that combat this type of

behavior. As a manager of a police department, I would create a social media policy. The first

policy would be, no accessing personal social media accounts while on duty. The second policy

would be, absolutely no posting damaging posting on your personal webpage. The final policy

would be, officers must adhere to supervisors accessing their account periodically.

Social Media Accounts While On Duty

The first policy would be, no accessing personal social media accounts while on duty.

Social media refers to a set of online tools that are designed for and centered on social interaction

(Bertot, Jaeger & Hansen, 2012). They have become an important part of people’s lives. There

accessibility has been enhanced with the increased accessibility of internet as well as improved

technology. People are able to access internet over their phones from their service provider at

reduced costs. Individuals are thus able to access internet from any location. Using social media

while on duty can comprise the quality of work done by an individual. Unrestricted usage of

social media while in the workplace is having a negative influence on the productivity of the

workers (Bertot, Jaeger, & Hansen, 2012). The employees spend most of their time on the social

media compared to work-related duties. The negative effects of social media usage are worse

when police officers that are on duty are involved.

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For example, John is a police officer with the Chicago Police Department. John works at

night from 7:00pm to 7:00am. For the past several nights John has been on his Facebook page

while on duty. Normally, this is not a problem. However, on this particular night a robbery

occurred, several miles from John’s location. During this robbery the store clerk was shot and a

six-year-old child was killed. The 911 call came in at 8:45 pm and John did not arrive until 8:58

pm. According to the police report after reviewing the surveillance tapes the child was shot at

8:57 pm. The parent of the six-year-old child blame the police for not responding to the 911 call

quick enough to save their child. After an investigation was conducted, it was concluded that if

officer John had not taken the time to log off his Facebook account, he would have responded to

the scene at approximately 8:57 pm. Officers on social media while on the job could be

dangerous. John was civilly sued for failure to perform his duties as a police officer. John was

eventually terminated for breaking the policy, which had been clearly outlined in Chicago Police

Department standard operating procedures policy.

The roles that police officer play in the society require them to be alert all the time while

on duty. Social media sites are more engaging and can thus distract officers from attending to

their duties on time. In the case provided above, John would have prevented the death of the

child had he responded to the incidence without delay. In this case, a delay was cause as a result

of use of social media. Indulgence in social media use is an indication of pastimes becoming

more interesting compared to work and it thus interferes with concentration as well as the

response time, which is critical in police officer duties.

Implementing the policy that prevents police officers from accessing their personal

accounts while on duty creates room for them to concentrate on official duties. It means that they

will have time to monitor the social media account of the Chicago Police Department. There are

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a lot of crimes that are reported through the official Chicago Police Department social media

accounts that can go unattended to due to lack of concentration of the officers on duty. When

officers log into their personal accounts, it implies that they will have no time to check on the

official social media accounts of the police department. Besides, the personal social media

accounts can be so captivating to the point of neglecting official duties (McDonald & Thompson,

2016). The policy will thus help in reducing the number of cases that are unattended to police

officers who are on duty. It will also help in increasing response time to crime incidences.

No Posting Damaging Posting Comments

The second policy would be, absolutely no posting damaging posting comments on your

personal social media webpage. Employees are now warned to exercise considerable care in

using social media site to make comments or conduct conversations about their managers and

fellow employees (van Diesel, 2014). Police officers are different from other public officers

because what they post on their social media sites can compromise an ongoing investigation.

Even when using personal social media accounts, officers have to maintain caution to avoid

creating a conflict of interest between their personal lives and official roles. The policy is

important because it will help in reducing the amount of damaging posts that are placed by

officers on their personal social media accounts.

The efficiency of a police department is guided by strict lines and adherence to protocol

procedures due to the sensitive nature of their work. At no time should the public be aware of the

inner goings of a police department as they can use that information to compromise the security

of the public. The public becomes confident when there is unity in the police force. However, the

emergence of social media has resulted in a number of cases where junior police officers

question the decisions made by their seniors (Brown & Duguid, 2017). For fear of facing the

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senior officers, they find it easy to address their issues in the public domain to gain public

sympathy. Chicago Police department has an elaborate way of resolving issues that arise between

officers. Therefore, social media platforms should never be used to address difference because

the information can be used by criminal to infiltrate the police department and compromise the

law enforcement efforts. Police officers thus need to be more careful when using their personal

social media accounts to avoid dragging their roles as police officers into their personal lives.

Cases of officers’ posting controversial information on their personal social media sites

are on the rise. For example, Frank is a police officer at the New York Police Department. Frank

has an active Facebook page, he decided to post some negative comments about his supervisors’

conduct and behaviors. Frank said, “Major Jimmy Williams never gets to work on time, and he

steals money from drug dealers he arrests.” Frank was unaware, that the New York Police

Department had an investigator, that their only job is to surf social media looking for

unprofessional conduct among their employees. The New York Police Department investigator

launched an investigation into the accusations concerning Major Jimmy Williams. Although

Major Jimmy Williams was cleared from alleged charges. However, Jimmy Williams name was

destroyed all over social media.

Posting controversial information on other officers can be damaging to their reputation

like in the above case. Therefore, the policy will be important in regulating the conduct of

Chicago Police Department officers on the social media. Accusations posted on the sites give no

room for the accused to respond as they reach a huge audience within a short time. It implies that

even when the issues are resolved, the public would have lost confidence on the police officer. It

is thus important for police officers to go over information that they post on their personal sites

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to ensure that they do not implicate other officers or create a loophole that can be exploited by

the audience of such posts.

Supervisors Accessing Their Account Periodically

The final policy would be, officers must adhere to supervisors accessing their account

periodically. The policy is mean to ensure that all the officers in Chicago Police Department

adhered to all the laid down policies on social media use. While the department will have private

investigators that go over social media sites to discover any controversial or damaging posts by

our officers, it will also be necessary to go through their personal accounts occasionally to

establish what may have been missed. It helps to keep the officers within their best behavior

while using the social media accounts.

The access will be authorized by the officers filling a form that gives their accent. For

example, Darrell applied to the North Carolina Greensboro Police Department. Through the

application process, Darrell was required to fill out an authorization form. The authorization

form stated, “As employee of the North Carolina Greensboro Police Department, I Darrell will

allow this agency to have full access to any of his personal social media network.” The

authorization helps to ensure that the officers do not make any complaints later that there

accounts were accessed without their authorization (van Dissel, 2014). The policy will help in

ensuring that no controversial post is created by Chicago Police Department officers on their

personal social media accounts.

Conclusion

The increased use of social media can be beneficial or damaging to a workplace. In police

departments, official social media sites can be created to allow communication with the public

within the shortest time possible. It also allows officers to clarify their positions to members of

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public. However, social media sites can have a negative impact if they compromise the

productivity of a worker. Police officers are supposed to be alert all the time while on duty.

Alertness allows them to promptly respond to work-related duties in time. The three policies on

social media use created by the Chicago Police Department will be useful in promoting proper

use of the sites while on duty and off duty.

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References

Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., & Hansen, D. (2012). The impact of polices on government social

media usage: Issues, challenges, and recommendations. Government information

quarterly, 29(1), 30-40.

Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (2017). The social life of information: Updated, with a new preface.

Harvard Business Review Press.

McDonald, P., & Thompson, P. (2016). Social media (tion) and the reshaping of public/private

boundaries in employment relations. International Journal of Management

Reviews, 18(1), 69-84.

van Dissel, B. M. (2014). Social media and the employee's right to privacy in

Australia. International Data Privacy Law, 4(3), 222-234.

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