West Midlands Police has launched an investigation into the conduct of a police inspector who works as a mental health liaison officer and has allegedly misused his Twitter account.
The Twitter account was suspended on Friday as the officer’s communications were being investigated with the help of CrowdControlHQ, a social media risk management and monitoring platform.
James Leavesley, CEO, CrowdControlHQ, said: "Organisations need to able to speak as one voice and if many people are representing the organisation on social media, each tweet or post should be regarded as a press release.
"West Midlands, like many other forces we work with, are very aware of the risks involved and should be commended for the implementing mitigation strategies and policies to avert possible reputation or security risks, while continuing to fully engage with the public."
CrowdControlHQ gives its clients the ability to control who has access to its social media accounts. Multiple social media accounts can be managed from a single dashboard (up to 300 in the case of West Midlands Police), with each user being given different levels of access depending on their experience, training and the organisation’s policies.
As well as full monitoring across the social web and moderation of incoming and outgoing engagement, CrowdControlHQ offers an audit trail of all posts and updates clearly indicating who posted what and when.
CrowdControlHQ is currently used by 25% of the UK polices forces to manage, monitor and protect social media accounts, which has given the company deep insight into challenges faced by police communications teams.
Organisations’ official public accounts are managed within the platform and monitoring for key words across social media has become an important part of criminal investigations. Many forces also report instances were they have been able to intervene in potential suicides, with positive outcomes, and find vulnerable missing persons by using the platform.
CrowdControlHQ customers are in multiple industries including, finance, public sector, leisure, health, advertising, transport and travel, utilities, entertainment and 20% of police forces across the UK.
