Lieutenant Leads Police Social Media Strategy

Unless you live under a rock, you've heard of Facebook and Twitter.

And while not everyone uses these social media tools, as of March 31, 2013 approximately 1.1 billion people used Facebook and 200 million used Twitter.

To reach community members users of these and other platforms, the Mountain View Police Department decided to dedicate time and resources to its social media strategy—and it's brought them a lot of attention.

"We are very diverse and tech savvy community," said Lieutenant Chris Hsiung, who leads the MVPD's social media strategy. "The safe assumption is that a lot of people are connected via cell phone, laptop and tablet. What a great way to communicate via those channels rather than just press releases, the older more traditional model."

Over these last eight months, according to Hsiung, the department has really ramped up to get more users. Just in Twitter followers alone, @MountainViewPD has grown from 4,670 in January 2013 to 6,874 followers on July 22—that's a 47 percent increase. 

Hsiung also proudly shared that when the department started its Facebook page in March of 2010, they quickly got 247 "likes." Now they have more than 3,100.

"I believe in learning from what works and most of the [social media] trainings I take is from the private sector and how they reach their customers," Hsiung said about his strategy on growing the MVPD's online audience. In particular, he follows the twitter accounts of Silicon Valley influencers like Guy Kawasaki and others in the startup community.

"I look at that and think 'how can law enforcement use it to reach their communities,'" he said. "In turn we use BALESMG to train other departments on what we are learning."

About 50 regional agencies make up the Bay Area Law Enforcement Social Media Group. Representatives meet regularly and sometimes even communicate daily to share tips, best practices and continue to train. In addition to Mountain View, police departments from Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Mateo, Fremont and the San Mateo Sheriff's Office participate in the steering committee.

"The focus of the group is that the communities in Bay Area get the best social media," Hsiung said.

A recent MVPD Facebook page post introduced Nash, one of their police K9s—Zeus, the other, has made appearances too. The page also features suspect photos, traffic safety information and other tips.

But Hsiung hopes to grow the social media efforts more. For the next phase, he wants to get more officers involved and even the community.

"Like the resident who took a photo of an alleged prowler with a backpack and posted it on Facebook," he said. "The community members began to chimed in. They can be an extra set of eyes and hears."

He cautioned, however, that residents should not get involved and should call dispatch at 650-903-6395.

Currently, Hsiung oversees the department's activities on nearly ten different social media platforms—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, Nixle, and on their Blog. 

"Different social media channels fill different gaps of our diverse community," Hsiung said. "We like to see what are the most effective and popular outlets and go there."

Because of his focused and strategic use of social media, Hsiung and Palo Alto Police spokesman and social media manager Zach Perron, have been invited to speak at the International Association of Chief of Police conference Philadelphia this October about how their social media strategies. Both cities are in the top ten for Twitter followers for departments their size.

"We try not to tryout too much stuff because we are already doing so," Hsiung said. "Our strategy is not to be everywhere but to be where most people are."

You can follow Lt. Hsiung on Twitter at @ChMtnViewPD.