I have seen two official facebook accounts or pages, one for the IGP and the other for Ghana Police Service itself as a security organisation. Immediately I saw these facebook pages, I was relieved myself because the police service is ready and willing to follow social trends in new order.
Organizations which don’t follow trends are bound to fail and thanks to God that the Police Service is shying away from its static, rigid and traditional ways of communicating to the general public. Whoever that hatched the idea of creating those facebook pages have done a great service to the police service and the teeming social media public since the police service stands the chance rebrand itself as a modern day security organization.
Just a simple click on the links below will direct you the official facebook pages I am talking about.
Personally, if I look at how some of us as individual police officers have been able to use social media platforms particularly facebook and whatsapp to send strong messages across and also to update some of our colleagues who are far but have been connected through facebook and whatsapp, I am no doubt that if social media well managed, the advantages will outweigh the disadvantages. Currently, there is a closed facebook group of police officers of almost all rank with over 1200 membership known as Ghana Police Service Personnel only. Those who have found themselves in that group whether a senior or junior police officer can attest that they have learned a lot as far as modern day policing is cornered. The platform though not officially sanctioned by the police administration, has become a source for accurate information and a centre for education for many police officers. Though it is often rumoured that the police administration intends to clamp down on the personnel in that group, until that is done, we will continue to used that platform to share ideas on issues confronting us as police officers.
Recently I watched an RTP award winning morning show hosted by Kafui Dey and Basiwa Duona Hammond on GH one TV where our PRO, his able self Supt. Cephas Arthur appeared as a guest. The PRO distinguished himself at the way he answered the questions from the hosts and I must confess that I was very much impressed as a young police officer who is seeking rebranding of the police service on both social and traditional media. As the show was about to wrap up, Kafui Dey asked the PRO whether the police service has active social media accounts but the PRO said no. At that time I was disappointed and embarrassed but the PRO was quick to add that a team of social media experts have been put together and in no time, the Ghana Police Service will maintain a constant presence on all social media platforms to follow trends. True to the words of the PRO, these two facebook accounts have been created. Kudos to the PRO and his team of social media experts. We are gradually getting there in the right direction. We can’t continue to do things the Captain Glover ways, change must come because it constant.
This very year, the IGP has come under constant attacks and criticisms for his infamous comments on shutting down social media if he feels social media would be a threat to security of the nation before, during and after the general elections. Though I personally heard the IGP reiterating his position at Ho during his Volta Regional tour that he never mentioned that he would shutdown social media but the media kept reporting it infamously in a skewed manner. The opposition parties accused the IGP for planning to rig the elections together with the ruling government hence his decision to shutdown social media. No matter how hard our PRO tried to explain the IGP’s comments on shutting down the social coupled with press releases issued by our public relations directorate still did not go down well with a section of the general public particularly the social media addicts. The very best channel to have settle the dust or clear the air was to have used the same social media platforms if were to have some by then. We should have activated them to counter any false publications meant to denigrate the police service and the IGP at that time.
Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram and others have come to stay. We cannot change it as a security service but rather have to follow trends and also use the various social media platforms to rebrand ourselves as a security institution to project our image positively. Social media is currently the biggest communication channel employed by all manner of persons irrespective of social class and status in society. It has become the fastest information dissemination avenue without checks and balances and that is the very reason why the police service must maintain a constant and strong presence on social media to give verifications to information that have criminal elements in them as well as have the potential to put a threat to the security of this country.
Cyber crime and fraudulent activities are on the increase on social media and one of the very reasons why the police presence on social media can’t be taken for granted and downplayed. Many organizations and prominent people are using their social media accounts to transact their daily businesses and as a result of that many criminals have also found themselves on social media to commit various forms of cyber crimes. Many organizations and prominent people are having their social media accounts hacked and valuable information stolen. In some cases these accounts are used to dupe unsuspecting followers of these organizations or the prominent people. Many people are being blackmailed by unscrupulous people using social media outlets. Recently some Nigerians were arrested for creating fake facebook account in the name of Majid Michel to collect monies from people who are believed to be social media followers of the actor. The police service should be in position to track all these elements and bring them to book.
As part of our objectives as police service, we are to prevent and detect crimes, to protect lives and properties, to apprehension and prosecution of offenders among others. How do we achieve these objectives when people are sitting comfortably in their rooms with just bundles on their phones, they start to commit crimes? How do we curb these problems? We must definitely be on social media with them so that we can do the chase there. We must use social media as avenue to give security tips to innocent Ghanaians who are increasingly becoming addicted to social media. We should use social media to send alerts in disasters like accidents, floods, fire outbreaks and a lot more that unsuspecting public may run into to endanger their lives.
Our social media platforms can be used to announce missing children and persons, wanted criminals, stolen cars and properties. It’s worth noting that there is a paradigm shift from the traditional and print media to social media particularly among new generation of youths and for that matter putting photos of and names of wanted criminals, missing children and persons, stolen cars and properties with rewards can lead to some young people volunteering information for the arrest of these wanted criminals, retrieval of stolen cars and properties as well as help find missing children and persons. This can lead to proactive policing which will go a long to reduce crime and bridge the gap between the police and the civilian population as well as information volunteering which is the wheel on which effective and efficient policing grinds.
As part of the unseen hands controlling the new world order, social media has become the center where every revolution begins. From fashion to entertainment, football, jokes, pornography and almost everything good and bad are found social media. It is increasingly become a tool to convene peaceful and violent demonstrations. It is worth noting that the Arab Spring started from facebook somewhere in Tunisia before sweeping across the Arab world particularly in North Africa and some parts of middle east. This tells you that social media is a powerful communication weapon that should be under constant monitoring by the security services particularly the police.
Come this December 7, all our social media accounts should be getting busy to counter false news of violent attacks on certain political party members which are likely to result in reprisals elsewhere to put this country into chaos. Police whatsapp numbers should be made available for the public to reach out to police as early as police to report likelihood of violence.
It’s a giant step in the right direction for the IGP himself to have official facebook page as well the police service itself. Once again the PRO and his team social media experts have done a great service to us by activating our social media senses and for that matter they deserve commendation. The South African police for example have a strong social media presence. They use it to update their followers and the South African people their progress in arrests of hardened criminals, alerts to disasters, retrieval of stolen items and a whole lot. We can do same here in Ghana.
I entreat all social media savvy police officers and the general public to follow the official facebook page of the IGP and the Ghana Police Service page for necessary updates. May be social media should not be shut down as we are made to believe by the media but it should effectively be managed and monitored. It helps!
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