Police use of social media during a crisis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/jpc.v5i1.2605Keywords:
Canada, Canadian police, police communications, police public relations, police crisis management, crisis communications, police management, police social media, police studies, public relations, PRAbstract
This study examines how social media is used during a crisis among six police services in Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick. Using in-depth interviews with ten police personnel, both civilian and officers, involved in communications, the findings suggest most of the crisis communications plans use guidelines of timeliness, accuracy and cooperation focused on the goal of the operation rather than checklists. The research also looks at how the two-way symmetrical communications model alters during crisis and whether checklists of functions are applicable in a crisis.
References
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Smith, G. (2009). Web 3.0: ‘Vague, but exciting.’ Mediaweek, 19(24), 19.
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Veil, S. R., Buehner, T., & Palenchar, M. J. (2011). A work-in-progress literature review: Incorporating social media in risk and crisis communication. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 19(2), 110-122.
Weldon, R. (2011). University of Texas at Austin Police Department — Crisis communication on campus. Retrieved from http://www.iacpsocialmedia.org/Resources/CaseStudy.aspx?termid=9&cmsid=4977
Wendling, C., Radisch, J., & Jacobzone, S. (2013). The use of social media in risk and crisis communication. OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, 25, OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/the-use-of-social-media-in-risk-and-crisis-communication_5k3v01fskp9s-en
Bar-Tur, Y. (2013, April 22). Boston police schooled us all on social media. Mashable. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2013/04/22/boston-police-social-media/
Coombs, W. T. (1995). Choosing the right words: The development of guidelines for the selection of the “appropriate” crisis-response strategies. Management Communication Quarterly, 8(4), 447–476.
Coombs, W.T. (2007). Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corporate Reputation Review, 10(3), 163-176.
Covello, V. T. (2003). Best practices in public health risk and crisis communication. Journal of Health Communication, 8(1), 5-8.
Davis III, E. F., Alves, A. A., & Sklansky, D. A. (2014, March). Social media and police leadership: Lessons from Boston. Retrieved from https://ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/244760.pdf
Edmonds, R. (2015, July 28). Newspaper industry lost 3,800 full-time editorial professionals in 2014. Retrieved from www.poynter.org/2015/newspaper-industry-lost-3800-full-time-editorial-professionals-in-2014/360633
Flood Recovery, Mitigation and Resiliency. (2014). Flood recovery. Retrieved from http://www.calgary.ca/General/flood-recovery/Pages/FloodRecoveryHome.aspx
Freberg, K., Saling, K., Vidoloff, K. G., & Eosco, G. (2013). Using value modeling to evaluate social media messages: The case of Hurricane Irene. Public Relations Review, 39(3), 185-192. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.02.010.
Gawande, A. (2007). The checklist. If something so simple can transform intensive care, what else can it do? The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/the-checklist
Gawande, A. (2007, December 30). A lifesaving checklist. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/opinion/30gawande.html?_r=2&oref=slogin
Grunig, J. E. (2009). Paradigms of global public relations in an age of digitalization. Prism, 6(2). Retrieved from http://shonaliburke.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/GRUNIG.pdf
Grunig, J. E., & Hunt, T. (1984). Managing public relations. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2015). Model policy. Retrieved from http://www.iacpsocialmedia.org/Portals/1/documents/Social%20Media%20Policy.pdf
Irvine, R. B. (1997). What’s a crisis, anyway? Communication World, 14(7), 36.
Keenan, V. M., Diedrich, D., & Martin, B. (2013, June). Developing policy on using social media for intelligence and investigations. The Police Chief. Retrieved from http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=2951&issue_id=62013
Lukaszewski, J. (1999). Seven dimensions of crisis communications management: A strategic analysis and planning model. Retrieved from http://www.e911.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Seven_Dimensions_of_Crisis_Management-c-2016.pdf
MacNeil, A. (2014). Independent review — Moncton shooting. Reports, Research and Publications. Retrieved January 15, 2015 from http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/rcmp-response-macneil-report-independent-review-moncton-shooting-june-4-2014
Mersham, G. (2010). Social media and public information management: the September 2009 tsunami threat to New Zealand. Media International Australia, 8/1/07-Current(137), pp. 130-143.
Otis, D. (2015, February 22). Police radio to go silent as Toronto cops move toward encrypted communications. The Toronto Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02/22/police-radio-goes-silent-as-toronto-cops-move-toward-encrypted-communications.html
QPS, (2011). Queensland Police Service disaster management and social media – a case study. Retrieved from https://www.police.qld.gov.au/corporatedocs/reportsPublications/other/Documents/QPSSocialMediaCaseStudy.pdf
Reynolds, B. (2005). Crisis and emergency risk communication. Applied Biosafety, 10(1), 47-56.
Reynolds, B., & Seeger, M. W. (2005). Crisis and emergency risk communication as an integrative model. Journal Of Health Communication, 10(1), 43-55. doi:10.1080/10810730590904571
Robb, S., Alexandra, K., Macfarlane, A., Lewis, A., & Fowler, S. (2015, January 9). As it happened: France sieges end. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-30722098
Scherp, A., Schwagereit, F., Ireson, N., Lanfranchi, V., Papadopoulos, S., Kritikos, A., Kopatsiaris, Y., & Smrs, P. (2009). Leveraging Web 2.0 communities in professional organizations. Retrieved December 25, 2014, from http://www.w3.org/2008/09/msnws/papers/ScherpEtAl-LeveragingWeb2Communities.pdf
Sévigny, A., & Scholz, D. (2016). 5 things you need to know about social media in Canada. Retrieved from http://cnw.newswire.ca/blog/Social-Media-Canada-2016.html
Smith, G. (2009). Web 3.0: ‘Vague, but exciting.’ Mediaweek, 19(24), 19.
Timeline: How the great flood of 2013 evolved. (2013, June 24). The Calgary Herald. Retrieved from http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/timeline-how-the-great-flood-of-2013-evolved
Veil, S. R., Buehner, T., & Palenchar, M. J. (2011). A work-in-progress literature review: Incorporating social media in risk and crisis communication. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 19(2), 110-122.
Weldon, R. (2011). University of Texas at Austin Police Department — Crisis communication on campus. Retrieved from http://www.iacpsocialmedia.org/Resources/CaseStudy.aspx?termid=9&cmsid=4977
Wendling, C., Radisch, J., & Jacobzone, S. (2013). The use of social media in risk and crisis communication. OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, 25, OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/the-use-of-social-media-in-risk-and-crisis-communication_5k3v01fskp9s-en
