BUILDING ONLINE COMMUNITIES WITHIN A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY

Technology Application

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WHY BUILD AN ONLINE COMMUNITY?

Communication between homogeneous groups is lacking in most agencies

Inconsistencies between group members hurt the provision of service

Technology exists to bridge these gaps IF best practices are followed

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HOMOGENEOUS GROUPS?

Captains Lieutenants Sergeants Field Training Officers SWAT Team Members Traffic Homicide

Investigators Criminal

Investigators Juvenile Investigators Part Time/Auxiliary School Resource

Officers Narcotics

Investigators

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HOMOGENEOUS GROUPS?

People with like interests, assignments or tasks who may not have face-to-face contact often enough

The list isn’t complete…add your own Civilian employee groups, support groups,

Neighborhood Watch…

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WHAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED?

Groups can engage in discussions that keep them on the same page

Inconsistencies are addressed by peer consensus

Better communication means better service

Savings realized with fewer OT face-to-face meetings

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TOOLS TO USE

Internal web site can house a protected site Only available within the agency “walls” Can download and configure PHPBB for

online discussion boards (free at http://www.phpbb.com/)

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TOOLS TO USE

External site such as Moodle Password protected Can also be used for training and on-

demand modules Can add communities to Moodle site that is

used for training Free download at http://Moodle.org

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TOOLS NOT TO USE

Facebook MySpace Police Pulse Any other public social

networking site

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LEGAL ISSUES

State public record law Florida and other states have open laws Anything generated with public funds is open

to public scrutiny Officers get comfortable with the feel of what

they consider to be a confidential asset, then becomes public

Check your local laws

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CONCLUSION

Can be beneficial to agency operations

Can improve communications and morale

Can help keep the agency out of legal trouble

Misuse can GET the agency INTO legal trouble

Consult your legal advisor

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