52962175.pdf

\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER TITLE ACCREDITATION Social Media CALEA: 54.1.1.g, 45.2.3 PRIOR REVISIONS 03/05/19 PROPONENT UNIT Office of the Chief ATTACHMENT: N/A NUMBER ISSUE DATE REVISION DATE TOTAL PAGES 54.2 03/05/19 04/11/2023 8 I. PURPOSE: This Order establishes the Department’s position on the utility and management of social media and provides guidance on its management, administration, and oversight. Public employees occupy a trusted position in the community, and thus their statements have the potential to contravene the policies and performance of the Department. Due to the nature of the work it is necessary that employees of the Department be subject to certain reasonable limitations on their speech and expression. In so doing, this Order sets forth expectations of police department employees with respect to their use of social media and social networking, and the direct effect such use has upon the reputation, perception and interests of the Department and its employees. This Order is not meant to address one particular form of social media, rather social media in general, as advances in technology will occur and new tools will emerge. II. ORGANIZATION: This policy shall apply to all Gainesville Police Department employees. Employees should be aware that postings on media or social networking sites are not private; nor all form of speech posted protected by the First Amendment and may tarnish both the employee’s and the Department’s reputation and diminish the public’s trust and confidence. Employees should consider that biased-based or derogatory posting may have adverse consequences such as being used as exculpatory evidence in the\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT impeachment of witness testimony in court proceedings, and public as well as private embarrassment. III. POLICY: Social media provides a contemporary and potentially valuable means of assisting the Department and its personnel in meeting several police strategies, including, but not limited to: community outreach, problem-solving, investigations and crime prevention. Social media also plays a significant role in the personal lives of numerous Department employees. However, it must be formally and universally recognized that the personal use of social media has the potential to impact the Department as a whole, as well as individual members serving in their official capacity. As such, this policy provides information of a precautionary nature as well as prohibitions on the use of social media by Department personnel. As members of the Department, employees are embodiments of its mission. It is, thus, essential that each member accept his or her role as an ambassador of the Department. In doing so, each member must strive to maintain public trust and confidence, not only in his or her professional capacity, but also in his or her personal and on-line activities. Moreover, as police personnel are necessarily held to a higher standard than general members of the public, the on-line activities of employees of the Department shall reflect such professional expectations and standards. IV. DEFINITIONS: For the purpose of this policy, the following definitions apply: 1. Social Media: On-line sources that integrate user-generated content and user participation and allow the user to communicate, share, and/or exchange information with others. Information may include, but is not limited to, text, photographs, video, audio, and other multimedia files. This includes, but is not limited to, social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, and Instagram), microblogging sites (Twitter, Nixle), photo and video sharing sites (Flickr, YouTube), wikis (Wikipedia), blogs, and news sites (Digg, Reddit). 2. Blog: Commentary, written by either one person or a group of people, in an online format, usually posted in chronological order, like a diary that may allow visitors to post responses, reactions, or comments. The term is short for “Web log.” 3. Page: The specific portion of a social media website where content is displayed, and managed by an individual or individuals with administrator rights. 2\n\n--- Page 3 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 4. Post: Content an individual shares on a social media site or the act of publishing content on a site. This includes text, photographs, audio, video or any other multimedia file. 5. Profile: Information that a user provides about himself/herself on a social networking site. Online platforms where users can create profiles, share information, and socialize with others using a range of technologies. 6. Speech: Expression or communication of thoughts or opinions in spoken words, in writing, by expressive conduct, symbolism, photographs, video, or related forms of communication. 7. Wiki: Web page(s) that can be edited collaboratively. 8. Internet: A computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP / IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange. 9. Comments: Responses to a blog post, news article, social media entry or other social networking post. V. PROCEDURE: 1. It is the policy of the Department that all existing laws, rules, regulations, and directives, including all policies of the Department and City whether labeled a policy, practice, guideline, procedure, general order or other governing document, that govern on- and off-duty conduct are applicable to conduct associated with social media and networking. 2. Employees who choose to maintain or participate in social media or social networking platforms shall conduct themselves with professionalism and in such a manner that will not reflect negatively upon the Department, its mission, or the employee. 3. When engaging in social networking, employees will strictly adhere to any and all of the following: a. Existing federal, state, and local laws. b. Policies of the City of Gainesville and the Gainesville Police Department. In the event that policies of the City of Gainesville or the Department conflict with this policy, this policy shall prevail. c. Laws regarding public information on arrests, investigations, and personnel data. 3\n\n--- Page 4 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 4. Employees are prohibited from using their status as members of the police department to endorse any product or service without prior written permission from the Police Chief or his/her designee. 5. Employees are prohibited from posting images of police personnel working in an undercover capacity or identifying such personnel as law enforcement officers. 6. Employees are prohibited from using City of Gainesville or Gainesville Police Department property (on- or off-duty) to engage in personal use of social media. 7. While in on-duty status, employees are prohibited from using privately- owned property to engage in personal use of social media. 8. In addition to the above provisions, when engaging in use of social media, employees shall not post any text, photograph, audio, video, illustration, or any other multimedia file related to, or depicting, any of the following: a. Current or pending departmental investigation; b. Departmental confidential information; c. Ethnic slurs, threats of violence, or material that is harassing, fraudulent or discriminatory or disparages, maligns or expresses bias toward any race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or other protected class of individuals; d. Sexually explicit images, comments, jokes, or material that violates the City of Gainesville or the Department’s policy or any federal, state or local law prohibiting sexual harassment. 9. Employees who are off-duty, and using privately-owned property to engage in the personal use of social media, do not represent the City of Gainesville, the Gainesville Police Department, or any official position maintained by either entity. Under such conditions, employees represent only themselves and their personal interes