Let’s police in the 21st Century

As journalists, we are endlessly active within our distribution areas, trying to butt our noses into everybody’s business in an attempt to be the eyes and ears of our communities.

We look everywhere we can for our next big story, and technology has given us new insight into the lives of the people that we write for.

We use social media every single day. It has become a pivotal tool in our newsroom. By no means can everything reported on social media be trusted, but it gives us great insight into trends in the community.

People somehow feel less pressure when online, and share information willingly.

This information can potentially save lives. Just last month, a woman took to social media after she was nearly raped in a local park. Within minutes, the community and local security companies were on the scene, and the suspect was arrested.

But here’s the kicker – some police don’t seem to have even realised, let alone harvested the power of social media.

Our journalists call the police regularly for information or confirmation of something that we have spotted online. Their answer most of the time, you ask? Well normally, it’s along the lines of, “Nothing of that nature has been reported to us, so we cannot investigate.”

Now I am by no means an expert on policing, and perhaps my comment here is completely out of line. Whilst I agree fully that all crimes need to be reported to the police, we all know the reality that exists, sadly. The reporting of crimes is a long, arduous process, and many simply don’t feel it is worth their while. Victims get shunted from pillar to post and are often sent away several times because they do not have documentation (or whatever other excuses can be manifested on the day).

Would it not make sense for our local police force to be more active on social media – to try to be more in tune with their communities. Perhaps they could then identify trends and do something about it before a major crime is committed.

The park mentioned earlier has its own Facebook page which, for months, has been largely populated by comments from residents who are becoming increasingly concerned about crime in their beloved park. Our newspapers have run stories that we have picked up from this page. Why then must a woman endure an extremely traumatic encounter before anything is even done?

Come on police – let’s live in the 21st century. Let’s use all the information at our disposal, including social media, and let’s fight crime innovatively. We can do better than this. Love the community you represent and care to be their knights in shining armour.

You are the people we turn to when the world has let us down … or at least you used to be. Now, I guess, we turn to Facebook – the results seem to speak for themselves.