The use of Facebook by police: RCMP compared to municipal departments

This study examined how the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) can effectively use social media when compared to the municipal police departments in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Relevant literature on the police use of social media was reviewed examining the benefits, strategies, and potential risks. Quantitative data was collected from the Facebook pages of 12 RCMP detachments and 11 municipal departments. All posts from the month of January 2018 were analysed and categorized based on what the posts were about. Qualitative data was collected from literature to support conclusions drawn from the quantitative data. How the posts made on the Facebook pages can affect the public’s view of the police were discussed. Recommendations on how the RCMP can tailor their current resources into their social media strategy to fit the specific needs of the individual communities they police were made. Recommendations for further studies were also made.