“We are all in this together:” police use of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic

“We are all in this together:” police use of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hu, X., Dong, B. & Lovrich, N. (2021) Policing an International Journal

This article investigates how police agencies used social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. In general police agencies are known to use social media to assist in criminal investigations, to improve police-community relations and to broadcast both crime and non-crime related tips promoting public safety. Looking at the kinds of posts made pre and during the pandemic and how the public reacted to these posts. The authors refer to “electronic community – oriented policing (E-COP)” concept to explore how social media can be used to maintain a positive relationship between the police and the public. The authors look at Facebook posts by police organisation and analyse the number of reactions, shares, and comments. The article concludes that social media, using the E-COP concept can serve as a promising tool to connect the police with the public when such connection is critical.

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Hu, X., Dong, B. & Lovrich, N. (2021) “We are all in this together:” police use of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policing an International Journal. DOI 10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2021-0072