Deputy chief wants more social media presence
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Belleville’s deputy chief of police said he hopes to see a move toward using more social media to reach residents.
On Thursday, representatives from the OPP said they would be using more social media tools – Twitter, Facebook – as a way to reach out into communities and attract new recruits.
Ron Gignac, deputy chief of the Belleville Police, said he would like to see the local force’s social media presence increase in the future. The Belleville Police Service has an active Twitter account (@BLVLPolice).
Gignac said at his previous position, chief of the Deep River Police Department, he arranged for an officer there to undertake specific, police-oriented social media training that was offered through the Toronto Police Service.
“That’s what I’d like to do, moving forward. We’d like to have more of a social media presence but we really need the training,” Gignac said.
He said a more active presence, however, would require a staff person, either an officer or a civilian, to monitor the accounts on a full-time basis.
“We’re still living the cost-saving days here, we just don’t have the position right now to commit to a full-time social media person.”
Using social media as a police force is not the same as an individual using if for personal reasons. Gignac said forces need to consider what information they’re able to release, when they can release it and how to address questions or information that come to police attention via social media.
“There’s a lot to it and we just don’t have the staffing right yet,” he said.
The Deep River Police Department’s Facebook page seems to have regular posts with information for the public like alerts about scams, new laws coming into effect and various police activities.
“We need the formalized training. We have to identify an officer, send the officer on training and then we can enter into creating it and what tools to use. I’m definitely all for it,” he said. “There’s a lot to consider because once we start, we definitely do not want to stop or have people lose interest.”
emily.mountney@sunmedia.ca