LAPD Blogs - What’s Next?

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by Matt Clark

The LAPD has a blog...Government 2.0 anyone?

This is a great step for the blogosphere. Corporate America has accepted the medium and it’s time for the government to do the same. There are 20 million people living in LA county and the area has almost as many news outlets as New York. A blog is a good way for the LAPD to connect and communicate with a wide range of audiences. They are able to update people on arrests, statistics and internal improvements using a forum that the general population has accepted.

If done right, it will open up line of communication between the citizens of LA County and the people sworn to serve them. My first negative thought, though, was what happens if there is a controversial incident? Will the LAPD blog about it? Will the lawyers let them?

I didn’t find really controversial on the blog, but I did see that they blogged last weekend when 10 people were murdered. It was a clear response from their PR team, as pointed out by the LA Times Blog, but at least they were willing to put it out there and talk about it. They didn’t deny the issue. They said this is what happened, this is how, and this is what we are doing. I am sure in a few weeks they will also post arrests from the weekend.

Currently, it seems to be more of a newsroom than a true communication vehicle. No one is leaving comments, and I’m not sure that the LAPD would comment back even if people did.

The LAPD Blog has a long way to go and I think utilizing some other social media and digital marketing tactics (VBlogs perhaps?) would increase their profile. It’s a good first step though, and it’s interesting to see blogging in this context. How cool would it be to see Bush blog about policy or the White House have to answer directly to the people via blog comments?

Update: Chicago, Dalton and Amherst Police Departments also have blogs…The NYPD does not.