Nearly 1,300 U.S. police agencies now use Facebook, and more than 600 are on Twitter.
Increasingly, the ability to reach the public directly—rather than through the media's prism—has empowered police. At times, it has nettled journalists. How have social media networking tools changed policing? And are they worsening or improving the relationship between law enforcement and the media?
To explore these questions, more than 40 New Jersey police chiefs, senior law enforcement managers, PIOs and journalists gathered for a unique roundtable at John Jay College of Criminal Justice on May 18, 2011.
Panelists at the half-day event included: Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department; Nancy Kolb of the International Association of Chiefs of Police; Capt. Jeff Paul of the Morris County Prosecutors Office; and Steve Johnson, New Jersey Regional Editor of Patch.com.
The roundtable was co-sponsored by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), and American Police Beat Magazine.
For the roundtable agenda and resources prepared for the conference , please see below.
Access the full agenda here.