Shelby County Sheriff?s Of?ce RE: SOCIAL MEDIA 210 EFFECTIVE DATE: 11-01-2010 SUPERSEDES: NEW NEXT ANNUAL REVIEW DATE: 08-2017 DISTRIBUTEON: ALL PERSONNEL REVISED: 06-06-11 - REFERENCES: CALEA: CROSS REFERENCE: 210.00 PURPOSE AND POLICY A. The purpose of this Policy and Procedure is to establish guidelines for Shelby County Sheriff?s Of?ce (SCSO) employees on the use of social media. The SCSO endorses the secure use of social media to enhance communication, collaboration and information exchange; streamline processes; and foster productivity. This policy establishes the position on the utility and management of social media and provides guidance on its management, administration and oversight. 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 tools will emerge. B. Social media provides a new and potentially valuable means of assisting SCSO and its personnel in meeting community outreach, problem-solving, investigative, crime prevention, and related objectives. This policy identi?es potential users that may be explored or expanded upon as deemed reasonable by administrative and supervisory personnel. The SCSO also recognizes the role that these tools play in the personal lives of some department personnel. The personal use of social media can have bearing on SCSO personnel in the of?cial capacity. As such, this policy provides information of a precautionary nature as well as prohibitions on the use of social media by department personnel. 210.01 APPLICABILITY All employees of the SCSO. 210.02 DISTRIBUTION This policy will be distributed to each department head, piace on the SCSO intranet and the Learning Management System. This policy will be reviewed annually. 210.03 DEFINITIONS A. Blog - A self?published diary or commentary on a particular topic that may allow visitors to post responses, reaction or comments. The term is short for ?web log.? B. Page The speci?c portion of a social media website where content is displayed and managed by an individual or individuals with administrator rights. C. Post Content an individual shares on a social media site or the act of publishing content on a site. 210 Social Media i of 6 Revised: 06-064 1 1. 210.04 A. Shelby County Sheriff?s Of?ce Pro?le Information that a user provides about himself or herself on a social networking site. 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 (Facebook, MySpace), micro blogging sites (Twitter, Nixle), photo and video sharing sites (Flickr, YouTube) wikis (Wikipedia), blogs and news sites (Digg, Reddit). Social Networks -- Online platforms where users can create pro?les, share information and socialize with others using a range of technologies. Speech - Expression or communication of thoughts or opinions in spoken words, in writing, by expressive conduct, symbolism, photographs, videotape or related forms of communications. 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. Wiki Web page(s) that can be edited collaboratively. 0N-THE-JOB-USE Department?Sanctioned Presence 1. Determine strategy a. Each social media page shall include an introductory statement that clearly speci?es the purpose and scope of presence on the website. b. The page(s) should link to the SC official website. 2. Procedures a. All SCSO social media sites or pages shall be approved by the public information of?cer or his or her designee and shaii be administered by SCSO Information Systems or as otherwise determined. b. The Manager of Information Systems will have administrative access to all departmental social media sites. 0. Social media pages shall clearly indicate they are maintained by the SCSO and shall have SCSO contact information prominently displayed. 1. Content is subject to public records laws. Any request for information from social network sites must be directed to the hosting company request for YouTube comment history must be sent to YouTube) and are subject to the hosting company?s record retention policy. 2. Content must be managed, stored and retrieved by the hosting site. SCSO does not backup or retain in any way content published to third party social media sites. The content of social network sites is very dynamic with all participants having the ability to post and remove their content at any time. 210 - Social Media 2 of 6 Revised: 06-06-l 1 Shelbv County Sheriff?s Of?ce The SCSO has no way of providing all content ever posted to a social networking site and must reiy on the third party hosts? policies regarding record availability. (1. Where possible, social media pages should state that the opinion expressed by visitors to the page(s) do not reflect the Opinions of the SCSO. 1. Pages shall clearly indicate that posted comments will be monitored and that the SCSO reserves the right to remove Obscenities, off-topic comments and personal attacks. 2. Pages shall cleariy indicate that any content posted or submitted for posting is subject to public disclosure. 3. Department-Sanctioned Use a. SCSO personnel representing SCSO via social media outlets shall do the following: 1. Conduct themselves at all times as representatives of the department and accordingly, shall adhere to all department standards of conduct and observe conventionally accepted protocols and proper decorum. 2. Identify themselves as a member of the department. 3. Not make statements about the guilt or innocence of any suspect or arrestee, or comments concerning pending prosecutions, nor post, transmit, or otherwise disseminate con?dential information, including photographs or videos, related to department training, activities or work?related assignments without express written permission. 4. Not conduct political activities or private business. b. Employees shall observe and abide by all copyright, trademark and service mark restrictions in posting materials to electronic media. B. Potential Users 1. Social media is a valuable investigative tool when seeking evidence or information about: Missing persons Gang participation Wanted persons Crimes perpetrated online cyberbullying, cyberstalking) Photos or videos of a crime posted by a participant or observer rut-2953's 2. Social media can be used for community outreach and engagement by: Providing crime prevention tips Offering online-reporting opportunities Sharing crime maps and data Soliciting tips about unsolved crimes capo-p: 210 Sociai Media 3 of 6 Revised: 06-06-1 1 Shelby County Sheriff?s Of?ce 3. Social media can be used to make time~sensitive noti?cations related to: 210.05 9-927?" Road closures Special events Weather emergencies Missing or endangered persons PERSONAL USE Precautions and Prohibitions - Barring state law or binding employment contracts to the contrary, SCSO personnel shall abide by the following when using social media. 1. SCSO personnel are free to express themselves as private citizens on social media sites to the degree that their speech does not impair working relationships of the SCSO for which loyalty and con?dentiality are important, impede the performance of duties, impair the discipline and harmony among coworkers or negatively affect the public perception of the department. As public employees, SCSO personnel are cautioned that speech on or off?duty, made pursuant to their of?cial duties - that is, that owes its existence to the employee?s professional duties and responsibilities is not protected speech under the First Amendment and may form the basis for discipline if deemed detrimental to the department. SCSO personnel should assume that their speech and related activity on social media sites will re?ect upon their office and the SCSO. SCSO personnel shall not post, transmit or otherwise disseminate any information to which they have access as a result of their employment without written permission from the Chief Deputy or Public Information Of?cer. This includes criminal court cases that of?cers may see as an assigned court deputy or as a witness. When using social media, department personnel should be mindful that their speech becomes part of the worldwide electronic domain. Therefore, adherence to the code of conduct is required in the personal use of social media. In particular, SCSO personnel are prohibited from the following: a. Speech containing obscene or sexually explicit ianguage, images, or acts and statements or other forms of speech that ridicule, malign, disparage, or otherwise express bias against any race, any reiigion, or any protected class of individuals. b. Speech involving themselves or other SCSO personnel re?ecting behavior that would reasonably be considered reckless or irreSponsible. Engaging in prohibited speech noted herein, may provide grounds for undermining or impeaching an officer?s testimony in criminal proceedings. SC SO personnel may not divulge information gained by reason of their authority; make any statements, speeches, appearances, and endorsements; or publish materials that could reasonably be considered to represent the views or positions of SCSO without express authorization. 210 Social Media 4 of6 Revised: 06-0641 10. ll. 210.06 Shelby County Sheriff?s Of?ce SCSO personnel should be aware that they may be subject to civil litigations for: a. Publishing or posting false information that harms the reputation of another person, group or organization (defamation); b. Publishing or posting private facts and personal information about someone without their permission that has not been previously revealed to the public, is not of legitimate public concern and would be offensive to a reasonable person. 0. Using someone else?s name, likeness or other personal attributes without that person?s permission for an exploitative purpose; or d. Publishing the creative work of another, trademarks or certain con?dential business information without the permission of the owner. SCSO personnel should be aware that privacy settings and social media sites are constantly in flux, and they should never assume that personal information posted on such site is protected. SCSO should expect that any information created, transmitted, downloaded, exchanged or discussed in a public online forum may be accessed by the department at any time without prior notice. Reporting violations Any employee becoming aware of or having knowledge of a posting or of any website or web page in violation of the provision of this policy shall notify his or her supervisor immediately for follow?up action. For safety and security reasons, SCSO personnel are cautioned not to disclose their employment with the SCSO. They shall not post anything about any other member of the department without their permission. As such, SCSO personnel are prohibited from the following: a. Displaying SCSO logos, uniforms or similar identifying items, or posting personal photographs or providing similar means of personal recognition that may cause them to be identi?ed as a deputy of the SCSO on personal web pages in a distasteful or disrespectful manner; b. Posting anything that would bring discredit to the 0. Posting any information about the Shelby County Sheriff?s Of?ce regarding con?dental matters, crime scenes or investigations; d. Logging onto their personal social media site and make any postings while on duty. PAGE CONTENT DISCLAIMER A. SCSO shall post the following disclaimer on every social media website it manages: of?cial website is SC SO is using this third party site to provide SCSO content in a different format that may be useful or interesting and is being provided consistent to the accuracy of information provide by this site or any other linked site. Using this third party site does not constitute an endorsement by 210 - Social Media 5 of6 Revised: 06?06?11 Shelby County Sheriff?s Of?ce SCSO or any of its employers of the sponsors of the site or the information or products presented on the site. 2. We encourage you to share your thoughts as they relate to the topic being discussed. We review and post comments according to the policy below. The views expressed in comments reflect those of the author and do not necessarily re?ect the of?cial views of the Shelby County Sheriff?s Office. 3. We want to publish your comments, but we expect comments generally to be courteous. To that end, SCSO has established the following policy in regard to the posting of comments and we reserve the discretion not to post comments that are inconsistent with our policy. 4. Therefore, it is our policy not to post comments thatcontain obscene, indecent or profane language; contain threats or defamatory hate speech directed at race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, religion or disability; or promote or endorse services or products. (Note that non?commercial links that are relevant to the topic or another comment are acceptable.) 5. Reporters are asked to send questions to the SCSO Public Information Of?cer through their normal channels rather than by submitting questions here in comment form. It is our policy not to post media questions. 6. We recognize that the internet is a medium unbound by regular business hours and your comments are welcome at any time. However, Shelby County Sheriff? 3 Office resources, reviewing and posting of comments will generally occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted at other times will be reviewed and posted as soon as possible the next business day. 7. To protect your privacy, please do not include information email address or phone number) in the text of your comment that identi?es you. Authority of a Bill Oldham, Sheriff 210 Social Media 6 of 6 Revised: 0606-1 1