HPD SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
This policy establishes guidelines for the establishment and use by the Harwich Police Department of social media sites (including but not limited to Facebook and Twitter) as a means of conveying Harwich Police Department information to its citizens. The intended purpose behind establishing the Harwich Police Department social media sites is to disseminate information from the police department to its citizens. The Harwich Police Department has an overriding interest and expectation in deciding what is “spoken” on behalf of the “department” on social media sites. For purposes of this policy, “social media” is understood to be content created by individuals, using accessible, expandable, and upgradable publishing technologies, through and on the Internet. Examples of social media include Facebook, blogs, MySpace, RSS, YouTube, Second Life, Twitter, LinkedIn, Delicious, and Flicker.For purposes of this policy, “comments” include information, articles, pictures, videos or any other form of communicative content posted on a Harwich Police Department social media site. The establishment and use of police department media sites is subject to approval by, and administered by the Chief of Police or his/her designees.
2. The social media sites should make clear that they are maintained by the Harwich Police Department and that they follow the department’s Social Media Policy.
3. Wherever possible, Town of Harwich social media sites should link back to the official Harwich Police Department website for forms, documents, online services and other information necessary to conduct business with the Harwich Police Department.
4. The Chief of Police or his/her designee will monitor content on department’s social media sites to ensure adherence to the Harwich Police Department Social Media Policy and the interest and goals of the Harwich Police Department and Town of Harwich.
5. The department reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this Social Media Policy or any applicable law. Any content removed based on these guidelines must be retained by the Chief of Police and/or his/her designee for a reasonable period of time, including the time, date and identity of the poster, when available.
6. These guidelines must be displayed to users or made available by hyperlink.
7. The Harwich Police Department’s website at www.harwichpolice.com will remain the Harwich Police Department’s primary and predominant internet presence.
8. All Harwich Police Department’s social media sites shall adhere to applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and policies.
9. All social media sites are subject to the Open Records Law. Any content maintained in a social media format that is related to department business, including a list of subscribers, posted communication, and communication submitted for posting, may be a public record subject to public disclosure.
10. Comments on topics or issues not within the jurisdictional purview of the Harwich Police Department may be removed.
11. Employees representing the Harwich Police Department via social media sites must conduct themselves at all times as a representative of the department and in accordance with all Town of Harwich / Harwich Police Department policies.
12. This Social Media Policy may be revised at any time. PROCEDURE:
1. As a public entity the Harwich Police Department must abide by certain standards to serve all its constituents in a civil and unbiased manner.
2. The intended purpose behind establishing Harwich Police Department social media sites is to disseminate information from the Harwich Police Department to its citizens.
3. Comments containing any of the following inappropriate forms of content shall not be permitted on Harwich Police Department social media sites and are subject to removal and/or restriction by the Chief of Police or his/her designees:
a. Comments not related to the original topic, including random or unintelligible comments;
b. Profane, obscene, violent, or pornographic content and/or language;
c. Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, or national origin;
d. Defamatory or personal attacks;
e. Threats to any person or organization;
f. Comments in support of, or in opposition to, any political campaigns or ballot measures;
g. Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising of any business or product for sale;
h. Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law;
i. Encouragement of illegal activity;
j. Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; or
k. Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright, of any party.
4. A comment posted by a member of the public on any Harwich Police Department social media site is the opinion of the commentator or poster only, and publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the Harwich Police Department, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Harwich Police Department.
5. The Harwich Police Department reserves the right to deny access to Harwich Police Department social media sites for any individual, who violates the Harwich Police Department’s Social Media Policy, at any time and without prior notice.
6. When a Harwich Police Department employee responds to a comment, in his/her capacity as a Harwich Police Department employee, the employee’s name and title should be made available, and the employee shall not share personal information about himself or herself, or other Harwich Police Department / Town of Harwich employees. All comments posted to any Harwich Police Department Facebook site are bound by Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, located at http://www.facebook.com/terms.php, and the Harwich Police Department reserves the right to report any violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to Facebook with the intent of Facebook taking appropriate and reasonable responsive action.
