Public safety professionals as a whole are a traditional, loyal, tried-and-true group. These are very endearing qualities, for the most part. But a major culture change is taking place and the public safety profession needs to follow suit.
As a resident of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, I witnessed an outpouring of blogs and discussion threads created by displaced disaster victims trying to find family and determine the amount of damage in their neighborhoods. For the most part, cell phones didn’t work and people were forced to use what was easily accessible — the Internet. At this time, social networking was still in its infancy: MySpace wasn’t really geared for two-way mass communication, Facebook hadn’t become mainstream, and Twitterhadn’t been launched. But people engaged in social networking for the purposes of family/community connection, disaster response and to get public information unavailable elsewhere. Neighborhood to neighborhood across southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana, Internet sites were full of citizens passing along information, while the mass media stood firmly rooted in downtown New Orleans.
Fast-forward to 2009 and the Internet is more widely available and affordable, especially on cell phones. Web 2.0 applications are more advanced and have millions of users. The role of Web 2.0 in emergency response is not a theoretical possibility, but a reality. The blogging community played a big role in the 2008 Southern California wildfires, successfully arguing against Federal Emergency Management Agency and California emergency management officials about direction of the fires and evacuation plans. More recently, Twitter played a vital role during the presidential inauguration. After reading multiple reports on Twitter, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Emergency Communications staff member identified that officials were releasing incorrect information. The agency was able to broadcast corrected information on Twitter, thereby gaining credibility with the public and acquiring 3,500 followers in one day.
Instant Information Society
Gone are the days of waiting for the morning paper or the evening news to find out what’s happening in the world. Our global world is now bursting with people looking for instant information and immediate gratification. Citizens are armed with camera and video cell phones and the ability to immediately upload content to the Internet. It’s certainly understandable why traditional, and often hyper-suspicious, public safety professionals are hesitant to enter this world — but ignoring it doesn't make it go away.Arguments against public safety using Web 2.0 include:
- Information sent in by unknown sources through the Internet isn’t trustworthy.
- Public safety’s information must be 100 percent verified and approved through the command chain.
- There’s not enough manpower to pay someone to monitor the Internet.
Arguments for using Web 2.0 include:
- The days of secrecy among police are over — people want to know.
- The Incident Command System may give you command and control over resources but not information.
- In general, the public has the same access to information you do, sometimes more (satellite imagery, traffic reports, eyewitness reports, videos and photos on the Web).
- Most people will do the right thing given the opportunity.
- There’s a lot of good information in social networking sites that could help emergency managers make better, more informed decisions.
- The public depends on accurate information.
- Studies of disasters in the U.S. since the 1950s show that the stigma of “public panic” is a myth — more information is better.
- Trained volunteers can manage these sites, therefore helping to alleviate manpower strain.
Enlisting Volunteers
Many agencies have developed relationships with ham radio operators, appreciating the part they play in emergency management. As volunteers, ham radio operators provide free help when most needed. Their equipment works when other communications fail, and most operators are licensed so agencies can identify who’s reporting. Ham radio operators are informed of the agency’s priorities and needs and are included in drills and emergency management plans. Agencies should embrace Web 2.0 communications in the same model currently used with ham radio operators.The first step in instituting these changes should be to identify volunteers to monitor the Internet for you. These volunteers should be familiar with the latest technology, be able to work from anywhere, and have an Internet connection and a way to reach you with critical updates. Some likely candidates are: ham radio operators, criminal justice students, wives or adult children of officers/deputies/firefighters, Volunteers in Policing, Community Emergency Response Teams or community members. If you do background checks on your ham radio operators, follow suit with this group.
Volunteers should be trained properly and invited to join emergency drills. Be sure to educate them on Internet privacy laws as well as specifying the types of concerns you want to be informed about. Don’t limit the monitoring to emergency response; by following Internet chatter about other topics (construction, elections, rumors, videos, etc.) you and your staff will get to know the community better. Stress the importance of deriving accurate information in the absence of available emergency responder personnel to verify an event.
Two-Way Communications
Finally be willing to post information for the community. Don’t expect to be a one-way recipient of this information. Web 2.0 is based on the circular exchange of information. Give the community the means to access you through Web sites, e-mail addresses, blogs, social networking accounts, etc. Whenever possible, award citizens who help but always keep in mind privacy laws. The media has done an excellent job of courting the citizens to send in information, and public safety professionals should follow suit.Web 2.0 is still evolving with discussions of Web 3.0 and 4.0 already taking place. Since most of these applications are free, there’s no need to spend money to enter this new world, just be sure to protect your network by including your information technology department. Facebook’s fastest growing demographic category is middle-aged citizens, and Tweeters, bloggers, texters and social networkers represent your community members. Your emergency management and crime control efforts should speak their language.
[Photo courtesy of George Armstrong/FEMA.]
Daphne Levenson is the director of the Gulf States Regional Center for Public Safety Innovations. For more information visit www.GSRCPI.org or e-mail GSRCPI@GSRCPI.org.
