CorpComms Magazine

With the words 'budget cuts' on everybody's lips, it might not have seemed an ideal time for a public sector organisation to take to the Twitterverse and document its every move. But Greater Manchester Police (GMP) chief constable Peter Fahy wanted to do something innovative to capture the public's attention.

'The chief wanted to find a way of educating people about the role of the police,' explains GMP web manager Kevin Hoy. 'We wanted to combat the perception that policing is always about fighting crime. The truth is that the police encounter a variety of other issues on a daily basis.'

The corporate communications team hit upon the idea of tweeting out the contents of each emergency call throughout a 24 hour period, using the hashtag #gmp24. They were fortunate that many of GMP's police officers were already on board with social media and recognised the value of online engagement. There was minimal resistance to the idea within the department - the only concern was whether or not the content would be interesting enough.

Putting the plan into action

'It was clear that Twitter was the best mechanism to achieve what chief was going for,' says Hoy. 'It's easier to share information [than via Facebook, for example]. You don't have to be a member or a friend to see what we're publishing... people who aren't following can see what we're doing and follow us via hashtags.'

Having compared call volumes on different days of the week, the team opted to have their Twitter Day on a Thursday, steering clear of the weekend. 'We wanted to portray an average day, without it being so busy that it would overwhelm us,' explains Hoy.

GMP had already been developing its online and social media presence, working with Manchester-based PR agency gabba. Its Twitter feed @gmpolice had more than 3,000 followers prior to Twitter Day, videos and photos have been regularly posted to its YouTube channel and Flickr page, while the chief even has his own blog, updated around once a month.

But the team quickly discovered that using their already established @gmpolice Twitter handle for their Twitter Day would land them in 'TwitJail' for sending too many tweets from one account in a particular time period. The limit is 1,000 tweets per day, or 126 in one hour. 'We spent most of the Tuesday [two days before the campaign] trying to get hold of Twitter HQ in San Francisco,' says Hoy. 'But they said the settings were global and couldn't be altered.'

In preparation, they set up six Twitter accounts, namely @gmp24_1, @gmp24_2 and so on, planning to switch over to a new account every time they were sent to TwitJail. They would then use the @gmpolice account throughout the day to publicise the campaign, respond to queries, and retweet others' comments using the #gmp24 hashtag.

When the day arrived, the hours between 5.00am on 14 October and 5.00am on 15 October were divided into three shifts, with each shift manned by one member of the corporate communications team and one member of the call centre team. The latter monitored the computer system where calls were logged, reading out the information to the communicator who then 'translated' it into Twitter-friendly content and tweeted it. All tweets were input manually to avoid security breaches, while any information that could identify individuals or locations was modified.

Crucially, no police officers were involved in the tweeting process, to avoid taking resources away from the front line. Videos of Chief Constable Fahy summing up the latest action were posted on YouTube, while images shot throughout the day were uploaded to the department's Flickr feed to complement the tweets.

An unprecedented response

Within hours, the campaign had sparked the interest of Twitter users across the globe, in particular, those who were surprised at the kind of incidents the officers had to deal with. Calls such as Woman asking police for help because she has nowhere to stay; Report of a death - no suspicious circumstances and Call from hospital patient regarding medication highlighted the use of the emergency services as an agency of last resort. Meanwhile, nuisance calls and 'silent calls' - often caused by mobile users accidentally dialling 999 without realising, or children playing with mobile phones - occurred several times an hour. Some numbers were repeat offenders.

More than 3,200 calls were taken in total. While over 270 calls related to theft, the biggest gripe was antisocial behaviour - the subject of more than 280 calls. Traffic incidents accounted for around 220 calls, while drugs and domestic violence each brought in over 40 calls. But more than 60 calls related to neighbourly disputes and almost 30 were regarding items lost or found.

'The eye opening thing about @gmpolice day is how there's so much we never hear about,' tweeted one follower. 'Fascinating reading, just shows what the police have to put up with. I'm hooked!' wrote another. Before long, Manchester Police was a trending topic across the globe. Followers of @gmpolice increased from 3,000 to 17,000 and a number of media outlets were following the story.

Aside from the more unusual calls described above, the tweets helped to highlight the officers' work behind the scenes on genuine police issues that do not make it into the headlines but which can cause a lot of disruption in a community, such as suspicious or threatening behaviour, shoplifting, immigration investigations or vandalism.

'There is a perception that low level crime is not being dealt with as often as it needs to be,' says Paul Fabretti, founder and director of gabba, which works with four police forces to develop their social media strategies. 'The ability to use digital footprints of Bobbies on the beat tweeting - it's a great way to say that Just because you haven't seen us, doesn't mean we're not there. It makes the officers virtually visible. It reassures the public.'

'The feedback was amazing,' says Hoy. 'We experienced some negative feedback, but we expected that and we responded to it. Mostly it was from people asking how much it cost and thinking we were using police officers to do the tweeting. But, in general, the response from the public and the media was hugely positive. We achieved what the chief constable aimed to do - educating people more about what we do and generating discussion around what policing involves.'

Regarding abuse of the emergency call line, Hoy explains that it is something the force tries to combat anyway, but he hopes that #gmp24 helped raise awareness. 'If people are more aware of the kind of calls that we get it will hopefully make some people think twice about whether they should be calling the police.'

And as Fabretti points out, the power of #gmp24 was also in 'proving to other authorities and partners' that they need to handle some of the problems that fall through the cracks to the police. If three out of five calls in a particular postcode relate to bin collections, for example, it is a way for the police to show the local authority that there are issues that need addressing.

Striking while the iron is hot

Looking to the future, it is clear that GMP should use this opportunity to continue its engagement with the public. 'It has taken something pretty dramatic to increase engagement but it proves that trying things in the social media space is worthwhile,' says Adam Vincenzini, lead social media consultant at Paratus Communications and an avid blogger and Twitter user. 'If they can continue to engage their followers on an ongoing basis, a new avenue of public cooperation and information will have been created of which the benefits are limitless.'

Hoy hopes that other organisations will follow suit. 'If this has proven anything, it's that the public has an appetite for a level of transparency and openness from the public sector,' he says.

Judging by tweets from the public, GMP's campaign struck a chord. In an era of cuts, it has been an eye opener to see civil servants dedicating time and effort to the smaller scale problems as well as the headline-grabbing ones. It has also been a sobering reminder that members of the public are all too often the cause of wasted money and resources. Above all, #gmp24 proved that it is possible for organisations to deliver value through social media.

'There is a gap of knowledge in a lot of businesses in that they know how to use Twitter but don't know how to deliver value,' says Fabretti. 'The team at GMP is forward thinking and creative enough to see where they can deliver value. They've grasped not just the what but the why and how.'

Unusual calls made to 999

• 'Woman leaves cannabis by till at shop in Manchester'
• 'Advice regarding bank account in Rochdale'
• 'Homeless man asking police to contact a friend for him'
• 'Rat in the house. Caller thinks the cat may be responsible, Bury'
• 'Human remains in transit from Manchester Airport'

Source: Greater Manchester Police website

Top tweeting topics

• Anti-social behaviour 283
• Theft 278
• Nuisance/false call 225
• Traffic incident 224
• Vehicle crime 197
• Disturbance/harassment 182
• Domestic dispute 150
• Suspicious behaviour 130
• Arrest/bail/warrant 129
• Burglary 122

Source: Manchester Evening News

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