Inside The Lakeland PD With Asst Chief Bill LePere

Recently I had the opportunity to meet with Assistant Chief of Police Bill LePere of the Lakeland PD located in Lakeland, Florida. My reason for meeting with Chief LePere was to continue to gain knowledge in social media and law enforcement. Specifically, to see how social media is being pursued by law enforcement agencies like the Lakeland PD. Lakeland PD is active on Twitter and they have a Facebook page as well as an external blog called Inside The Lakeland PD. In addition to these social media communication tools Lakeland PD also has a New Online Media Center and Crime Map. The Lakeland PD primarily through Chief LePere’s efforts in conjunction with his information team are getting themselves out there in the social media conversation.

When I asked Chief LePere how he see’s social media impacting law enforcement in the future he provided me with an insightful view into his social media perspective. “Social media is a communication revolution” and “Police should not be an occupying army, but part of the community” were two thoughts he mentioned that helped me understand Lakeland PD’s social media direction.

I agree 100% with Chief LePere that social media is a “cultural” change in how people communicate. The statistics show that more people are joining and spending more time on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. People are also turning away from formal news outlets like ABC, NBC, CBS and turning to blogs to get their news. The main reason for this change in media consumption is that people want a more “personal” communication experience. They don’t want one way communication anymore. People desire to be “involved” with the news or conversation. Chief LePere sees the opportunity of engaging citizens of Lakeland and beyond in the social media sites where they are spending time.

Police cannot afford to be seen as “occupying armies” if they ever hope to be effective in the communities they police. Again, I couldn’t agree more with Chief LePere. Just like it takes a village to raise a child it takes a community to keep the peace. By leveraging social media tools Chief LePere and the Lakeland PD are opening up new communication avenues with their citizens. As we have already seen this communication is much more personal in nature. The personal part of social media puts a face and a personality behind the badge and gun, which earns them trust. There is nothing more valuable to a police department than a citizen base that trusts them. It makes information gathering easier, the potential for social disruption less likely, an overall a more effective police department.

Chief LePere and the Lakeland PD are using social media to their advantage, unlike the larger majority of law enforcement agencies that are not yet taking to social media. Although, the Lakeland PD has a good presence in social media they could do more with more resources. This is an age old problem. Social media has not risen to the importance yet where it is going to draw a budget or a larger budget. But, in time I am confident that social media will gain a share in all law enforcement agencies budgets and rightfully so.

Chief LePere, thank you for your time.