LEPS 510 Assignment Six: Social Media

Matthew Rogers

In the year 2020, it seems like everyone and their literal grandmother is on social media

in one way or another. From Wendy’s to NASA, social media is for everyone, for better or

worse! Law enforcement is no different, and the modern day expectation is to not only have

social media, but to actively participate in the online world. Modern social media provides the

unprecedented ability for departments to reach out directly to concerned citizens in real-time.

This can be incredibly beneficial for everyone involved, and allows specific departments to

control and lead the conversation instead of having the traditional news media take the reins. The

other side of this sword is that managing social media is a full-time operation. As Mountain

View Police Chief Chris Hsiung described social media, “it’s an animal. The more time you feed

it, the larger it’s going to grow.” (Shot Spotter, 2016). As previously mentioned within USD

class curriculum, the Mountain View Police Department was one of the earliest adopters of

social media and are frequently used as the “standard” for social media and there are several

areas in where they excel (University of San Diego, 2020).

Mountain View PD has a full time social media specialist, Katie Nelson. Nelson is

mentioned several times on all of MVPD’s social media pages, which personalizes the voice

behind the post. Mountain View PD is on four social media platforms, which include Facebook,

Instagram, Twitter, and Nextdoor. Chief Hsiung’s gameplan includes “rocking it” on a small

number of platforms as branching out too far can be ineffective at message management (Shot

Spotter, 2016). Each platform as its own advantage. For example, Facebook is the most popular

social media platform in the world but their newsfeed algorithm will limit the number of users

who may see your message without you paying extra to reach more users. In addition,

Facebook’s everyday user tends to be the most senior of all social media platforms (University of
San Diego, 2020). For younger users, its more appropriate to use Instagram or Twitter. MVPD

also has an established population on NextDoor, where the local residents are able to directly

reach out to MVPD through Katie Nelson for real time updates and not merely as a website that

the department tends to “check in” on.

The department appears to post two to three times a week and the posts are the same

across each platform. Chief Hsiung makes sure to point out that it’s important to post each post

individually and not “cross post” to avoid formatting errors (Shot Spotter, 2016). Posts made by

the department frequently have photos attached in order to catch the viewer’s eye. The posts

compose of a mix of “2 gears” as described by Chief Hsiung. The posts include current road

closures, holiday messages to the public, retirement notifications, and a handful of photos of the

photogenic canines playing and receiving belly scratches (Shot Spotter, 2016) (Mountain View

Police Department, 2020). However, when official announce8ments need to be made, those are

also sprinkled into the rotation. This allows the department to have an ongoing conversation

instead of a one-directional line of communication. It creates a stream of post both fun and

serious, which buys authenticity points with the viewer.

The department has nearly identical posts on all of their social media platforms, with

some small exceptions on NextDoor when it has neighborhood specific concerns to address. One

thing that is consistent across all platforms is the level of engagement and conversation. For

example, comments and replies made to the department’s post are often immediately answered

and the department rarely deletes negative comments and replies (Shot Spotter, 2016). Social

Media expert Denton Carlson describes Facebook as a “slow river” for information and contrasts

Twitter as a “Waterfall” of fast moving tidbits of data (University of San Diego, 2020). Chief

Hsiung maintains this same approach but suggests Twitter for pressing information first. He
wants to make sure the message is identical on all platforms in order to reach the most amount of

people with the best information.

MVPD’s discussions within their posts with the public is what sets them aside from many

departments in the present day. Even the most negative of comments are met with a polite reply,

and sometimes will set the record straight to correct misinformation or half-truths. This is a

direct contrast of the traditional concept of “no comment”, which provides two benefits. One, it

creates a collaborative feel with the community. Second, it controls the narrative and therefore

builds trust as the rumor mill is not allowed to spread.

While MVPD does a great job at their social media presence, there are things that could

be improved. While not a criticism of the department in particular, the general public is going to

have the most questions regarding lawsuits and officer involved shootings. Departments are

typically not inclined to comment on these matters publicly and MVPD is no different. While

there are many topics that are now open for conversation in a public forum, officer involved fatal

incidents and litigation have not yet crossed that threshold, to the public’s dismay. The

department has made strides to post more patrol-related material, which is the lifeblood of any

department. However, there is an noticeable “repeat effect” of a small number of officers that

could be easily alleviated by a new photo pool. As someone who works for the department, I can

say that some of our photos include officers who resigned several years ago and yet remain in

circulation. It would also be interesting to see what the public may submit in a “Town

Submission” special where citizens are encouraged to take “selfies” or photos with officers on

calls for service. This could create a conversation that could further foster trust been the public

and the department.

 Most of all, my message to the Mountain View Police Department would be to keep

doing what they are doing. The social media presence gets information out to the public, answers

questions, and builds trust with the community. It gives the public a feeling of trust and creates

an environment of collaboration that benefits the public and officers alike.

Works Cited
Mountain View Police. (2020, 12 02). mountainviewpd. Retrieved from Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mountainviewpd/
Mountain View Police Department. (2020, 12 02). Mountain View Police @MountainViewPD.
Retrieved from Twitter.com: https://twitter.com/MountainViewPD
Mountain View Police Department. (2020, 12 02). Mountain View Police Department. Retrieved
from Facebook.com: https://www.facebook.com/mountainviewpolicedepartment/
Mountain View Police Department. (2020, 12 02). Mountain View Police Department. Retrieved
from Nextdoor.com: https://nextdoor.com/agency-detail/ca/mountain-view/mountain-
view-police-department/
Shot Spotter. (2016, January 12). Social Media with MVPD. Retrieved from Shot Spotter:
https://www.shotspotter.com/system/content-uploads/PIO_Webinar.mp4
University of San Diego. (2020, December 1). LEPS 510 Communication for Law Enforcement
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