Social media guidance

22 April 2020

Officers are being reminded of the pitfalls of using social media.

While there have been no similar issues in Derbyshire, officers from some forces have found themselves receiving warnings from senior officers due to the use of platforms such as Tik Tok in recent weeks.

“We are policing through unprecedented times and officers are working under extreme pressure while trying to fully engage with their communities,” says Kirsty Bunn, secretary of Derbyshire Police Federation, “Everyone is fully supportive of their efforts at this time but officers still need to stick to the Force’s social media policies.”

The national Federation has put together informal guidance to help officers. This states:

• Do not use personal social media for work-related activity
• If you use social media, it would be sensible to get a copy of your Force’s social media policy and adhere to it
• Before pressing the send key, walk away and have a think about how it could be perceived
• If in any doubt - do not do it, let alone post it.