Edmonton police officers are taking control of the reins – or rather, the keyboard – and hosting live Q & A sessions on the main EPS Twitter account.
“It just helps people who are following – or people who aren’t following – get an idea of what you can get from a police officer, aside from… what people are used to,” Staff Sgt. Nicole Chapdelaine said.
The goal is to give individual members – who are active on Twitter – a wider audience.
“The new members to our program will get to have more exposure,” EPS social media coordinator Landis Kine Donahue said. “People will get to see why they should be following them.”
In 2009, the force started its social media program. At the time, it had two EPS members who were tweeting from work accounts. Now, there are 20 officers on Twitter. This year alone, five more signed up.
READ MORE: Edmonton police connect with citizens through social media
“We do have the senior members for our program and because they have been around for say three, four, five years, they’ve had that much time to gain more exposure,” Kine Donahue said.
“They’ve had time to enjoy it and get to know the Twitter universe and the right humour and language.”
She added officers new to Twitter can now learn from their colleagues and find their own voice.
“The public that follows us as a corporate account will be able to see what they’re like as a personal account for themselves.”
The EPS Twitter Takeover puts one police officer in the spotlight. During the hour or so in control of the EPS Twitter account, they answer a wide variety of questions from members of the public.
READ MORE: #TwitterTuesday: Edmonton police using social media to battle traffic issues
Last Friday, Const. Brendan Fonteyne was the first to takeover the EPS account. He was asked everything from what cause is most important to him (domestic violence and homelessness) to his favourite superhero (Ironman).
“We had it so that the public could ask any question,” Kine Donahue said. “We wanted it to be fun and personal.
“It could be: ‘what’s your favourite pet, animal, colour?’ We wanted to make it open to the serious questions. As long as they’re all respectful, our officers are willing to answer.
“For the most part, it was about Edmonton, the community, what our officer has seen and handled on his own time and even things like: ‘what was the nicest thing he’s done while he was on duty and off duty?'”
Fonteyne was even asked about the most comedic thing that’s happened to him while on duty.
The next two EPS Twitter Takeovers are scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday. You can follow the Edmonton police Twitter account here.
Comments