Detractors on Social Media Risk for Organizations

Communication Outline

A. Introduction

1. The purpose of this outline is to provide a review of the communication strategy for disseminating information regarding the strategic plan of the police force Scottsdale, Arizona.

2. It will describe ways to communicate, summary of main public safety issues, influence of stakeholders, potential detractors, and a conclusion.

B. Ways to communicate the strategic plan:

1. To internal stakeholders (officers and employees in the department) and external stakeholders (officers in the department and community members, respectively):

a. Internal emails for officers;

b. Print-outs for officers;

c. Officer/employee meeting for officers/employees

2. To external stakeholders (community members)

a. Social media

b. Letter mailed to homes

c. Public address press conference

C. Summary of Main Public Safety Issues

1. Criminal sophistication

a. Requires improved forensic analysis

b. Requires improved technology (drones, etc.)

2. Opioid epidemic

a. Requires more surveillance

b. Requires more support from the community to fight effectively

3. Human trafficking

a. Requires more surveillance

b. Also requires more support from the community to fight effectively

D. Influence of Stakeholders

1. Internal stakeholders’ contributions

a. Ideas on police reform, community policing, democratic leadership

b. Provide training, mentorship to new recruits

c. They should share through meetings internally, through emails, through visits with HR, and through proper channels—not through Social Media

2. External stakeholders’ contributions

a. Ideas on community surveillance, neighborhood watch programs

b. Provide community resources through churches, local businesses

c. They should share through social media, where the department can engage with them via the department’s official channels

d. They should also share through town halls and through discussions with elected representatives (city council and the mayor’s office)

E. Potential Detractors

1. Disaffected community members

a. They can resist policies and try to move the community to defund the police

b. They can destabilize neighborhoods by not reporting crime and not working with police to catch criminals or prevent crime (Decker et al., 2019)

c. They can resist communication and not provide feedback, or provide only negative comments on social media to help add confusion to important issues

2. Disillusioned officers

a. They can give the department a bad reputation and further undermine efforts at reform

b. They can scare community members and cause division between the community and the police department

c. They can use social media to air internal grievances publicly, which would harm the department’s endeavors