Policy Text
\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nSEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE NUMBER:
G - 61
GENERAL ORDER
RESCINDS:
SUBJECT: Social Media
EFFECTIVE: December 3, 2012
REVISED: March 1, 2017
Table of Contents:
I. Purpose
II. Definitions
III. Official Social Media Profiles & Content
IV. Social Media Conduct
I. PURPOSE:
The Sheriff’s Office endorses the secure use of social media to enhance communication, collaboration, and
information exchange; streamline processes; and foster productivity. This policy establishes the Sheriff’s Office
position on the utility and management of social media and provides guidance on its management, administration
and oversight. Further, this policy outlines the expected conduct of all Sheriff’s Office employees and
volunteers (hereinafter referred to as Sheriff’s Office members), whether on or off duty. This policy is not
meant to address one particular form of social media rather social media in general, as advances in technology
will occur and new media platforms will emerge.
II. DEFINITIONS:
A. Page:
The specific portion of a social media website where content is displayed and managed by an individual
or individuals with administrator rights.
B. Post:
Content an individual shares on a social media site or the act of publishing content on a site.
C. Profile:
Information that a user provides about an individual (personally or of another), a group, an entity, or an
organization on a social network.
D. Social Media:
Social media is defined as information sharing technologies, which provide users with the ability to
communicate, collaborate, and share multimedia. Social media can include social networks, micro-
blogging sites, personal web pages, forums, podcasts, wikis and video sharing sites, or information
sharing within a defined network. Examples include, but are not limited to, Google and Yahoo Groups,
Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
E. Social Networks:
Online platforms where users can create profiles, share information, and socialize with others using a
range of technologies.
GENERAL ORDER
Social Media
GO # 61 Page 1 of 3\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nIII. OFFICIAL SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES & CONTENT:
A. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office will establish formal profiles on social media and social
networks, which will serve as official profiles of this organization. The Public Affairs Division, with
appropriate assistance from the Information Technology Division, will create and manage all official
profiles of the Sheriff’s Office. Examples include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube.
B. Sheriff’s Office members are prohibited from creating a profile on any social media or social network
that represents the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office as an organization, unless specifically authorized
by a Director or higher authority and coordinated with the Director of the Public Affairs Division. As
social media technologies afford the Sheriff’s Office with broader means to communicate and share
information with the public, Sheriff’s Office members are encouraged to convey ideas, strategies, and
technologies, through their chain of command, with the Public Affairs Division, which will be
evaluated for implementation in a coordinated manner to avoid fragmentation and misinformation.
C. The Public Affairs Division will establish protocols to ensure social media or social network profiles
and content adheres to applicable laws, regulations, and policies, including all information technology,
public information and records management policies.
D. The Sheriff’s Office official profiles on social media and social networks will display a public notice
that indicates that the content posted or submitted is subject to public disclosure and will stipulate the
type of comments or content that will be deleted.
E. Sheriff’s Office members should be mindful that photographs or motion video may be captured during
Sheriff’s Office events that take place in a public venue or a venue open to the press, and that this
multimedia may be posted to the official Sheriff’s Office social media accounts, which are available to
the public.
F. The Public Affairs Division will not identify members by name, or other personal identifier, that appear
in photographs or videos posted to Sheriff’s Office sanctioned social media accounts without first
obtaining sworn member’s permission.
G. This policy shall not restrict the creation and use of social media or social network accounts for official
administrative or investigative purposes wherein the Sheriff’s Office name or logo is not utilized.
Please refer to Enforcement Policy and Procedure #24, Section XV, for further guidance and
procedures on undercover or investigative internet accounts.
IV. SOCIAL MEDIA CONDUCT:
A. Sheriff’s Office members are free to express themselves as private citizens using personal social media
accounts. Employees may express themselves as private citizens regarding issues of public concern,
including matters involving or impacting the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, to the extent that such
media comments do not meaningfully impair their ability to effectively perform their duties, disrupt the
workplace or otherwise meaningfully impair the efficient operation of the agency. Employees should
never use their Sheriff’s Office e-mail account or password in conjunction with a personal social
networking site.
B. Relative to all social media, Sheriff’s Office members, whether on or off duty, are prohibited from:
1. Making any statements regarding guilt or innocence of any suspect or arrestee.
2. Making any statement regarding the character or reputation of any suspect or arrestee.
GENERAL ORDER
Social Media
GO # 61 Page 2 of 3\n\n--- Page 3 ---\n\n3. Making any comment on active investigations, pending prosecutions, or cases pending judicial
appeal in which the Sheriff’s Office is involved (this excludes content authorized for release
through the Public Affairs Division).
4. Disclosing multimedia (pictures, video, sketches, or other media) of a crime scene or persons
involved in an official Sheriff’s Office incident by means of uploading, sharing, or otherwise
transmitting the data from any device (this excludes content authorized for release through the
Public Affairs Division).
5. Making any comment revealing, posting, or disseminating the content of any criminal
intelligence information, active criminal investigative information or information received
from third parties with a request that the information be held in confidence.
C. Members should be aware that inappropriate content or behavior posted to social media may be used to
impeach a member’s credibility in a court of law. Inappropriate postings could result in disciplinary
action.
D. For safety and security reasons, sworn members should exercise discretion when disclosing their
employment with the Sheriff’s Office on social media. Members are encouraged to review permissions
or security settings to ensure their profile is not fully available for viewing by the general public, but
only those that they authorize. Even when properly set, security settings on social media sites are fluid
and members should consider that posts could receive broad dissemination at any time. All members
are encouraged to evaluate the potential harm in posting their occupation, employer, and photograph on
their personal social media accounts. Furthermore, sworn members assigned or considering assignment
to the City County Investigative Bureau, or any sensitive assignment that may require undercover
credentials, are prohibited from the following on social media:
1. Display Sheriff’s Office logos, uniforms, equipment, or similar identifying items, and/or
2. Post personal photographs, video, or other means of personal recognition that may cause them
to be identified as a sworn law enforcement officer.
E. As members of a law enforcement organization, all Sheriff’s Office members, whether sworn or not,
must be cautious about revealing information on so