Neighborhood police officers
Posted: Thu May 29, 2025 5:34 am
Despite the fact that community officers make extensive use of social media (particularly Twitter), they indicate that they do not (yet) experience any clear influence on their work or the way in which it is carried out. However, if we look at the results of the study, social media do indeed seem to leave their mark.
Visibility, approachability and accessibility
The daily work of the local police officer mainly consists of building and maintaining contacts and a relationship list to data of trust with the citizen. This involves promoting the visibility, approachability and accessibility of the police. By using Twitter, the local police officer contributes to increasing visibility, because despite the fact that the local police officer prefers to be physically present in the neighbourhood, the citizen rarely sees the local police officer on the street.
Offline contact remains the priority
Through (active) presence on a social medium such as Twitter, the local police officer is visible online. This also applies to the approachability and accessibility. The citizen can quickly and easily get in touch with the local police officer and he or she seems to be available 24/7. However, the local police officers surveyed are well aware that a large part of the population is not (yet) active on social media. The “offline” contact with the citizen therefore remains a priority for them.
However, one of the respondents noted the following: “There is a bit of a shift from visibility to accessibility. Many citizens always say ‘we never see the police!’. But do you want to see a police officer? No, only when something happens and you need him, then you want to see a police officer. You want to know where he can be reached. It is important that people know that we are there when the police are needed. Even though we are not always visibly present, we are there, we are just sometimes busy with other things. Accessibility is very important.”
Visibility, approachability and accessibility
The daily work of the local police officer mainly consists of building and maintaining contacts and a relationship list to data of trust with the citizen. This involves promoting the visibility, approachability and accessibility of the police. By using Twitter, the local police officer contributes to increasing visibility, because despite the fact that the local police officer prefers to be physically present in the neighbourhood, the citizen rarely sees the local police officer on the street.
Offline contact remains the priority
Through (active) presence on a social medium such as Twitter, the local police officer is visible online. This also applies to the approachability and accessibility. The citizen can quickly and easily get in touch with the local police officer and he or she seems to be available 24/7. However, the local police officers surveyed are well aware that a large part of the population is not (yet) active on social media. The “offline” contact with the citizen therefore remains a priority for them.
However, one of the respondents noted the following: “There is a bit of a shift from visibility to accessibility. Many citizens always say ‘we never see the police!’. But do you want to see a police officer? No, only when something happens and you need him, then you want to see a police officer. You want to know where he can be reached. It is important that people know that we are there when the police are needed. Even though we are not always visibly present, we are there, we are just sometimes busy with other things. Accessibility is very important.”