Media’s Role and Interaction with Law Enforcement

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The media focuses on the videos that negatively represent the police force effectively misrepresenting law enforcement. Media can directly influence people’s attitudes toward law enforcement, so we must ask how media impacts and influences citizens. The media, especially social media like Facebook and Twitter, bring more attention than ever to anything negative done by someone in the law enforcement profession while leaving positive stories out of the line-up. Kathleen Donovan is a co-author on a paper titled “ The Role of Entertainment Media in Perception of Police Use of Force” in which she talks about how people make impressions from media exposure more than anything. She recognizes the roles that the media plays by saying “Scholars have long noted the importance of the media in shaping citizens’ attitudes about crime and justice” and “citizens who report having heard or read about incidents of police misconduct on TV or in newspapers also believe that police misconduct is more prevalent”.

 

Social media often does not provide sufficient evidence for the claims that are made.Many people use social media to raise awareness of social movement but often lack supporting evidence. Social media makes it easy for people to create an account and post what they are passionate about but that does not make them credible. There have been many Facebook videos that intend to show police misconduct but often show an individual not being cooperative toward the office. Now that’s not to say all videos are like this but sometimes the person recording the incident will focus on the perceived wrong doing by the officer instead of the whole situation. Most people have access to a camera no matter where they are so they can record police encounters and then post the parts they want people to see (cji). There is a common misconception among those who rely on Facebook to stay informed that what they read online is true. News media use reliable sources and often tries to provide accurate information so viewers can trust what they are saying but on sites like Facebook sometimes people mistake what is posted to be true instead of questioning the support of those claims. Social media easily confuses evidence for claims with passion. People who use Facebook as a tool to stay informed often forget to question the reliability of the sources found through social media.

            Partly in response to the rise in citizens recording police incidents, many officers have begun to wear body cameras. Body cameras are a useful tool to provide the officers point of view when interacting with civilians. Evidence shows that “camera use is associated with lower rates of both police use of force and citizen complaints, suggesting that cameras have a “civilizing effect” on officers and citizens alike” (Vigne). One study also cites that the Ferguson Effect hypothesis resulted from the increase recording and negative portrayal of police officers (insert citation). The Ferguson Effect hypothesis explains that officers know that the public that they can be recorded at any time and often are publicly criticized so they are less willing to do their job because they do not want to be labeled prejudice or biased. The study goes on to say that police unwillingness to participate in community partnership coupled with law enforcement legitimacy being challenged by social media like Facebook would result in public safety concerns. Because of social media and the wide spread use of cameras incidents like Ferguson have become nationally debated topics. With this there has been massive negative attention to incidents similar to this resulting in a decrease in officers’ willingness to fulfill their duties in fear of being accused of racism or police brutality. This fear of being persecuted comes from the negative publicity that comes from the posts on social media like Facebook or Twitter.

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The use of social media to publicize police misconduct has led to an increase of officers killed in the line of duty to nearly doubled, from 27 to 51 officers killed from 2013 to 2014. (Perceptions of Treatment by Police). This helps to illustrate the negative effects media has on law enforcement because officers killed in line of duty had been in decline but media emphasis on cases like the Zimmerman case and Ferguson has contributed to this increase of in the line of duty deaths. These cases have lead law enforcement to have a poor reputation because they often blame “racial prejudices” for the reason of police misconduct. The media misrepresented law enforcement as something they are not and society believed what they were saying applied to all officers but the videos displayed by the media only represent a small portion of the law enforcement community        

Social media like Facebook can also create a somewhat “mob mentality” around an incident. One video can spark a reaction that spreads rapidly though the internet that feeds on itself and spirals out of control (cji). Many more people are able to view these incidents that are recorded and then put on Facebook than before the internet. According to Captain Waters in Social Media’s Law Enforcement “Incidents develop faster, reach further, and spread more rapidly than anything society has dealt with before” (cji). This rapid spread of videos or pictures makes it difficult for the whole story to be understood. If some records a police encounter then only posts what they want to be seen then that could lead to a very different story than if the officer’s story and the videos or pictures were viewed equally. The rapid spread of stories makes this difficult because it another story is posted first and gains popularity it would be difficult to explain the full story.

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Facebook also creates a non-confrontational way for people to voice their opinions with more confidence than in person. People feel more safe behind their computer screens and can post things online that they might not actually say if it were in person. This can result in more extreme reactions because when people are willing to say more combined with the mob mentality created by social media, could create uncalled-for responses. On top of that when are willing to say more it could create a more aggressive environment for all those involved.

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Social media publicizes police misconduct and law enforcement personal lives. It is very easy for someone to find an officer or other law enforcement online. This could be very revealing of officer’s lives when they may want to keep it personal. Media often interviews people involved in incidents and they may say things that aren’t accurate or the whole story but instead paints the officer as something else. Witnesses are the least reliable source for an account of an incident and often do not recall situations accurately.  “Half of internet users who do not use Facebook themselves live with someone who does.” (pewresearch). This means that even though officers may still take precaustions to protect their personal information it is more than likely that if someone went looking they could find something. Because of this police officers on duty or off may now have to deal threats to themselves or their family. With the rise in social media it has become very easy to distribute personal information, this could be dangerous for the officers and their families because it is hard to combat the spread of personal information over the internet.

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Social media is not only negatively impacting law enforcement but also is used as a very important tool. “Investigative targets are putting a lot more information voluntarily online,” said Cohen. “It’s readily available and helps us paint a true and accurate picture of what individuals are doing.” (Hanson). It provides information about the connections and relationships of those who may be under investigation. Also, social media makes it easier to track and find people of interest because could provide more information about the area or environment the suspect may be in. Social media has become such a useful tool that it has become part of basic investigations as a way of collecting information.

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Another role that social media plays involving law enforcement would be that it is used to get information out to the public and for the public to communicate with police. Social media is a great tool used by law enforcement to allows the public access to police reports and 911 calls. This use of social media started as a way of law enforcement evolving with the times. Before the internet law enforcement dealt with newspaper companies and police spokesmen to inform the public but with the rise of social media, new ways of informing the public became available. Facebook and Twitter allow for people to voice their grievances unfiltered to the police departments in their area. Although it would be impossible to please everyone and eliminate all complaints against police officers, Facebook and Twitter provide a way for officers to evaluate how they are acting and how those actions are perceived. Just because some videos posted do not accurately represent officers that does not mean all videos are discredited.

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Facebook relies heavily on videos to show what is happening in police encounters while Twitter seems to trend more on pictures or gifs to show what is happening in a specific incident. While both can easily be manipulated to show whatever the person posting it wants to say Twitter seems to be more about negative and angry comments not positive or promoting features about law enforcement. Facebook has its share of videos that are harsh or criticize police behavior, but there are a number of pages on Facebook that promotes law enforcement relations. Twitter may have some post in favor of law enforcement but people seem to criticize more than praise officers. For example, NYPD try to start and hashtag #myNYPD and asked people to post pictures of themselves with police officers. This immediately took a wrong turn and people started to post pictures of officers with weapons drawn or struggling with citizens.  The posts were often accompanied by sarcastic comments that made the officers look as if they were doing something wrong. Twitter seems to be used as more of an open line of communication toward police department while Facebook tends more to have people commenting and replying to other non-law enforcement people. On Twitter departments directly see what people are posting because of hashtags and they are able to respond to these posts whereas on Facebook officers and others are able to comment on posts but it does not quite equate to a dialogue.

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Facebook and Twitter do share that the posts negatively associated with law enforcement are far more popular and get more attention because people seem more focused on those posts. As previously stated, there are positive posts out there about law enforcement but they do not get the same publicity as the negative posts. In response to the NYPD hashtag someone posted a picture of a man being carried off by officers with a comment saying “Need a lift? The #NYPD’s got you! Free Delivery, Only at #myNYPD” (nbcnewyork). This post got almost 600 retweets and over 200 like but positive response like people posing with officers in the streets received far less retweets and likes (nbcnewyork).

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Social media is a tool. It can be used against the police, by the police, or provide help with law enforcement. Facebook has been used to show videos of police encounters often painting law enforcement negatively but it has also been used to help officers as an investigative tool. Twitter has many posts bashing police officers but also shows friendly encounters. The true impact of social media depends on how people choose to use it. Although the current trend seems to be focused on the negative aspects of law enforcement that does not mean in any certainty that officers have not in some way benefited from social media.

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Works Cited

 

Baum-Fischer, Reuben “Allegations Of Police Misconduct Rarely Result In Charges”          fivethirtyeight.com, November 25 2014 https://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/allegations-of-              police-misconduct-rarely-result-in-charges/ Accessed March 2017

Braga, Anthony and Brunson, Rod “The Police and Public Discourse on ‘Black-on-Black’ Violence”  Nation Institute of Justice May 2015 https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/248588.pdf  Print. Accessed March 2017

Donovan, Kathleen and Klahm IV, Charles “The Role Of Entertainment Media In Perceptions Of Police Use Of Force” http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0093854815604180 Print. Accessed March 2017

Hanson, Wayne “How Social Media Is Changing Law Enforcement” govtech.com, December 2 2011, http://www.govtech.com/public-safety/How-Social-Media-Is-Changing-Law-Enforcement.html Web.Accessed March 2017

Morelli, Alexa “The Media’s War on Police Officers” theodysseyonline, December 23 2015, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/medias-war-police-officers Web. Accessed March 2017

Nix, Justin and Wolfe, Scott “The Alleged “Ferguson Effect” and Police Willingness to Engage in Community Partnership” Law and Human Behavior, Vol. 40, No. 1 https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/lhb-lhb0000164.pdf Print accessed March 2017

“Perceptions of Treatment by Police” National Institute of Justice March 18, 2014 https://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/legitimacy/pages/perceptions.aspx Web. Accessed March 2017

 “Use of Force” Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015 https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=84#pubs Web. Accessed March 2017

Waters, Gwendolyn “Social Media and Law Enforcement” Federal Bureau of Investigation 2012 https://leb.fbi.gov/2012/november/social-media-and-law-enforcement-potential-risks Web.

https://www.policemisconduct.net/ Web.

 

https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/states/ Web. Accessed March 2017