Social Media and Pakistan Police

Social Media and Pakistan Police

Police and other law enforcement agencies are the subject of considerable attention all over the world. Police departments are increasingly embracing the idea of using social media sites, such as Facebook, for everything from soliciting crime tips to sharing safety-related information and improving community relations.

Researchers claim; forces with strong social media presences have better relationships with the citizens they are policing.

Social media use is likely to continue to grow and, on balance in every field. We have read many reports that indicate the impact of social media in maintaining law and order situation and helping Police in developed countries.

[info]Benefits of Social Media in Policing are:[/info] [list style=”list4″ color=”blue”]

• Police need to engage with people via social media not just to chase investigation leads but for maintaining law and order in city.
• The voice of the police on social media receives a high level of trust that supersedes bogus information distributed online.
• As a result the public describes and welcomes the police as a human organization that can be trusted.

[/list] [blockquote align=”right”] Social Media can be a modern platform for policing in Pakistan.
[/blockquote] [list style=”list4″ color=”blue”]

• Social media is also more effective than traditional print media for communicating with young people. Because younger people do not subscribe to local newspapers and often get their news solely via social media.
• Social media also enables the police to display a more “human side” because of the more informal tone adopted in networks like Twitter and Facebook.
• Through Facebook/Twitter police can easily share crime-related pictures and videos and give the public a relatively simple way to provide feedback and tips.

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• It will also allow police officers to talk about positive news, emotions, police culture and experiences of daily life.
• Police department can also controls what types of information the department itself places on social media sites.

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Transformation in police culture is the need of time and this is the high time for change in the police culture, Social media is need of Pakistan’s Police Culture because people see it as a negative system.

The prevailing “thana culture” in our country has greatly undermined the efforts to curb terrorism and to implement rule of law.

People prefer to settle their disputes without involving the relevant authority. This has caused reluctance in citizens to approach the police for co-operation. The institution of police is in a dire need for reforms.

In Pakistan, police officer should be no less than a graduate and policeman should have at least completed matriculation. Police officers should study and be trained for a minimum of two years before being made in charge of a police station. Similarly policemen should undergo at least year training.

Different techniques were used to change the police culture in different parts of the world which become successful. We believe that a positive approach and a combination of training ecology and working ecology helps in producing the desired result. This is the time for Pakistan’s Police to accept the change.

To use such sites effectively and safely, experts say departments should craft strong social media policies. For example, departments should establish guidelines regarding what the public can post on their pages.