Hello Sun Readers,
There is no doubt social media has changed the way your police department now interacts with the entirety of our community. Since the beginning of 2020, we have certainly increased our presence on all social media platforms.
Our social media team is constantly sharing content such as photos and videos, stories about interesting calls or arrests, and other pertinent safety or City messages. We’ve done virtual ride alongs with some of our patrol officers and held live Q&A sessions with the Chief of Police. We try and respond to every message people send us on both Facebook and Instagram. Our social media strategy has proven to be very successful, primarily in the sense that Chief Phil Gonshak’s goal was to increase transparency, connect with the community, and build stronger relationships.
We’ve done well in all these areas and are very proud of the work we’ve put into making the program successful.
When you view our Instagram feed or read a Facebook post, you might not realize the work that goes into creating all the content. It isn’t as simple as snapping a picture and posting it online. We have to be careful to ensure we are not violating any policies or procedures, are being fair and unbiased, and are certain the truth is being published. This all takes time and effort and there’s by far more that goes on behind the scenes than many people realize.
Even with all the positive feedback, social media has some negatives to it.
You may notice that we are NOT active on the Nextdoor.com platform and this is intentional.
Almost daily, we are forwarded screen shots from the community about things that are posted on this site. Very often, what is posted on Nextdoor.com is third or fourth hand, sometimes politically slanted, or even worse completely untrue. A large amount of these posts consists of rumors, unverified facts, and pure speculation based on very little actual information. Posts are sometimes rude or belittling, and detract from actual information sharing. It is inevitable that these episodes of miscommunication begin with a seemingly endless game of telephone, which in turn causes so much misinformation posted on Nextdoor.com.
Just last week we were sent a post where someone believed a newspaper delivery driver was a suspect in a crime. People are now suspicious of an innocent newspaper delivery driver who just happened to be driving through a neighborhood around the same time an unrelated crime was being committed. We can assure you; the newspaper delivery driver had nothing to do with this crime.
What often happens is that someone on Nextdoor will post about an actual crime that may have occurred, such as a car break-in. This gets repeated several times and the next thing you know – there is a perception that several car break-ins occurred. Why is this a big deal for the Seal Beach Police? Because, we have to take time to respond to questions from the public about why there were so many car break-ins. Responding to false rumors takes valuable time and resources away from other, more important, things.
It is because of all this, we at the Seal Beach Police Department are asking for help from the public to stop posting rumors and unverified information on Nextdoor.com. The amount of misinformation and rumormongering that takes place online only makes our job that much more difficult. Rumors continue to spread aimlessly and can have so many negative effects on both our investigations and the sanity of our beautiful town. To be blunt, misinformation purported as facts online can negatively impact law enforcement investigations. Rumors about things which later prove to be completely inaccurate can taint both witnesses and future jury pools. The bandwagon that follows after an individual posts something untrue creates distrust, anger and even worse higher levels of community angst, which we could all use less of these days. Due to the fact that it would take a full time person to respond and correct each piece of misinformation posted on a daily basis, the Seal Beach Police Department has taken a stance to simply not be a part of Nextdoor.com.
So Seal Beach partners, please stop with the rumors. If you have any questions, just ask us online via Facebook or Instagram (@SealBeachPolice) or in person whenever you see one of us. Lastly, you can always submit your questions to askacop@sealbeachca.gov or call us at 562-594-7232.