Policy Text
SOCIAL MEDIA
EFFECTIVE DATE: 02/25/16 STANDARD NO. 093 REVISED: _N/A__
_______________________________
REPLACES:
OBJECTIVE: To establish guidelines for members of the Homestead Police Department
concerning the use, both personal and professional, of social networking sites.
POLICY: It is the policy of the Homestead Police Department (HPD) to provide a clear
insight on authorized and official usage of social media by the Department, and
the usage of social media by its employees as private citizens. This policy is not
limited to any particular form of social media as new technologies and advances
in this area are continual.
SCOPE: All employees of this Department will be governed by the procedures set forth
below.
I. GENERAL:
A. The Homestead Police Department endorses and encourages the secure use of social
media to enhance communication, collaboration, and relationship with members of the
media, community, and other law enforcement agencies. The Department also
recognizes the rights of its employees as individuals to utilize and engage social media
outlets.
B. Social media provides the Department and its personnel an innovative and
advantageous means to communicate for the purpose of meeting objectives in the areas
of community relations and outreach, crime prevention, problem-solving, investigations,
and media relations. The Department also recognizes the role that these tools play in
the personal lives of Department personnel. As individuals, the Department supports
employees’ ability to utilize social media in any manner that will not adversely impact the
Department.
II. DEFINITIONS:
A. BLOG: A self-published diary or commentary on a particular topic that may allow visitors
to post responses, reactions, or responses, normally as opinions. The term is short for
"Web Log."
B. DEPARTMENT SOCIAL NETWORK ACCOUNT: Account created by the Police
Department on one of the social networks listed below (II(G)), in order to communicate
Department business, which account can be accessed by an employee. This account is
for business purposes only and is the property of the Department during and after the
employee is no longer employed by the Department.
C. PAGE: The specific portion of a social media website where content is displayed, and
managed by an individual or individuals with administrator rights.
Social Media – SOP# 093
D. POST: Content an individual shares on a social media website or the act of publishing
content on a site.
E. PROFILE: Information that a user provides about himself or herself on a social
networking site.
F. SOCIAL MEDIA: A category of internet-based resources that integrate user-generated
content and user participation. This includes, but is not limited to, social networking sites
(i.e. Facebook, MySpace), microblogging sites (i.e. Twitter, Nixle), photo and video
sharing sites (i.e. Flickr, YouTube), wikis (Wikipedia), blogs, and news sites (i.e. Digg,
Reddit).
G. SOCIAL NETWORKS: Online platforms where users can create profiles, share
information, and socialize with others using a range of technologies.
H. SPEECH: Expression of communication of thoughts or opinions in spoken words, in
written text, expressive conduct, symbolism, photographs, videos, or other related forms
of communication.
I. WEB 2.0: The second generation of the World Wide Web focused on shareable, user-
generated content, rather than static web pages. Some use this term interchangeably
with social media.
I. WIKI: Web pages that can be edited collaboratively.