Work and private life
The use of Twitter seems to have the greatest influence on the separation between work and private life. The local police officer generally has a strong sense of responsibility and is curious by nature. Because the local police officer is allowed to use the work telephone privately, he is also easily accessible outside working hours and is more quickly involved in the work. In addition, the flow of messages via social media never stops, with the result that people at home are more likely to pick up the phone and quickly read the messages from Twitter and possibly forward them.
No hype, but reality
Due to the shift of social contacts to the online world, the police organization is forced to go along with this. The list to data police organization has made a huge change here, the hierarchical and closed organizational culture was at odds with the social and public nature of social media. Nowadays there is a (more) open and transparent organizational culture, the citizen gains insight into the activities and is increasingly involved in police work.
Rubik's CubeAlthough social media is a relatively new phenomenon, it has already proven to be indispensable in police work. Developments in this area will continue, which means that the use of social media will play an increasingly important role in the work of the community police officer in the coming years. Social media is no longer a hype, but a reality.