Lauri Stevens of ConnectedCOPS

Before the World Wide Web existed, Lauri Stevens was poking around on an early form of the Internet. It was the late 80s—an era before friending, liking and tweeting became a national pastime.

But boy have times changed. Stevens now specializes in social media as founder of ConnectedCOPS, a site dedicated to educating law enforcement officers about social media, and creator of SMILE, the Social Media in Law Enforcement Conference.

She joined us for a discussion about social media tactics and how cops can successfully harness the web to promote, recruit and, of course, battle the bad guys.

You specialize in law enforcement and social media—this seems like a pretty specific niche. How did you get involved in the law enforcement community?

I worked as a general assignment reporter for several television stations always covering a lot of police and fire stories. It constantly struck me that they—public safety/emergency management of all types—could stand to improve their communication of their messages a great deal. I dabbled with trying to help them in that regard.

Then, fast forward about 15 years, my students created a website for some old friends at Bellevue PD in Nebraska. I began working with them on the site and that grew into doing social media with them. I thought maybe it was a good time to try again to reach out—this time just focused on law enforcement—and provide support for using media better, and especially social media. And it just exploded from there.

So yes, it is a very specific niche, which isn’t to say I wouldn’t help a fire department if asked, but I’ve got my hands full with law enforcement for sure.

What gave you the idea for ConnectedCops?

I wanted to write about these issues. I felt I had a lot to offer to fill a void. It didn’t seem like anybody was doing specifically what I wanted to do. But I also wanted to give a voice to the real experts—the law officers who are doing their best to succeed in this area. So, I started the blog.

I’m always inviting law enforcement professionals (sworn and not) to contribute articles and have actually “loaned” the blog to associations who are providing social media content. The more the merrier. I want to get as much information out there as possible.

You created the SMILE Conference. Why is there a need for a conference like it?

Again, it’s to fill a void. There wasn’t one already out there, anywhere, at least not PURELY social media.

There was so much excitement about it ahead of time. I was so pleased to be the one to bring all the social media law officers, public information managers, as well as those who want to dive into this space, together in one place to discuss best practices. It was truly an international event with presenters and delegates from four countries.

I said at the conference that I felt like I decided to throw a party and invited all my favorite LE/SM people. It was that kind of energy. Everyone was excited to be there and so verbal in their commentary about how timely and useful it was. Many have contacted me since to say they immediately went back to their agencies and implemented what they learned. It’s tremendously gratifying.

Was the first conference this past April? Will there be a 2011 conference?

I hope to have another yet in 2010! I’m looking at LA in the fall. I may possibly do one in Florida and one in Toronto in 2011.

I recently interviewed Christa Miller, who runs Cops 2.0, and she said that she doesn’t think social media is changing the LEO community yet. What do you think?

Well, policing is still policing. At the crux of social media in LE is community policing. So, in that regard it hasn’t changed policing. It also depends on what you mean by the “LEO community.”

Social media is definitely having an impact on crime solving and public safety. Social media is absolutely allowing police officers to relate to citizens better than ever before. It’s just that it’s not widely adopted. Social media is taking community policing to new levels. The agencies who are embracing SM and who really understand how to use it are realizing tremendous benefits.

It’s also affecting the LEO community because so many crimes are being committed online. LEOs are really working hard to keep up. Take, just one example, cyber bullying. Laws from state to state vary so widely. Years ago DUI and domestic violence laws were vastly different from one state to the next.

Today laws covering what’s a crime with regarding sexting and other cyber bullying-related issues vary similarly. One day, I’m sure, the states will be more similar with regard to these definitions as well. But until then, cops don’t always know how to handle these cases. What’s a crime with regard to whether a photo being sent from a wireless device is child pornography in one state isn’t in the next. How are LEOs to handle these situations?

Or gang violence. Law enforcement is discovering every day ways to investigate or simply monitor gang activity/communication. It’s astounding really. In this regard, is it changing policing? Heck yeah—in a big way.

What impact has social media had on LEOs?

I believe LEOs are connecting with each other on the inter-personal level around the world on LEO related issues. They’re feeling a camaraderie that’s always existed in law enforcement but the energy to support it is higher.

Unfortunately there’s been some negative aspects as LEOs reach out to their friends and family. With some of these tools, if they don’t know how they work, they can get themselves into trouble. They’re learning that they can swiftly ruin their careers if they’re careless online. I’m particularly concerned about their unguarded activities on Facebook.

For the LEO who really wants to build relationships with his or her community and effectively leverage those relationships, he or she can accomplish a lot.

What’s the No. 1 way police departments are using social media?

I’m glad you ask the question that way. “What is the one way?” While there isn’t “one” way, the big issue to me is to get them to use it at all. That’s my whole mission. Period.

But to try to answer the question, I’d say there are two big “buckets.” One is to improve community or community engagement—the whole PR side of things. The second is to investigate and/or prevent or solve crime. Most of the attention these days goes to the communication piece. That’s what everybody is trying to figure out. That plan that is.

Are there other ways to use social media being overlooked?

I don’t know that overlooked is exactly the right word, but just about no LE agency really understands the concept of relationship building with these tools. They have a long way to go to get that concept.

Another area which is just starting to get a lot of attention is the idea of cyber-vetting. This refers to the online investigation of potential LEOs. All industries are discovering this, but the issues surrounding the idea are really complex.

What is really being overlooked is an appreciation for the need to have a plan. Few agencies have really approached it strategically, taking a top-down look at audience/goals/objectives/resources/policy and etc. That’s why I developed the C.O.P.P.S. Social Media Method for cops, to try to take the mystery out of it.

What will the future of social media look like?

We are just at the very, very beginning of social media technological capability. Who is to say what it will look like tomorrow?

I’ve taken a little flak for what I’m about to say but I continue to say it. If we really embrace this technology, truly embrace it, not just the cops, but all of us as a community and take a vested interest in keeping our communities safe, then I truly believe social media—whatever it looks like in the future—will enable us to make our communities much safer.

Think about it, these tools are taking us into REAL TIME communication. There’s a lot of fear surrounding it within law enforcement. But that’s just because we don’t fully understand it yet. Once we get past the fear and uncertainty and the technology continues to develop, I THINK we’ll have a significant impact on crime—at least on violent crime. That’s why I continue on this path. I believe this to be true without a doubt.