Toronto Police Service: the social media beat #12 on my list

Most leaders are often unassuming and lead via influence and example. The Toronto Police Service (TPS) can count on not one, but two, internationally recognized pioneers in social media in law enforcement.


Sgt Tim Burrows (@T_Burrows) and Constable Scott Mills (@GraffitiBMXCop) have helped make the TPS a source of inspiration for many police services around the world. The service now offers formal training on social media to officers at its police college. The courses have met with great success and acclaim. This experience was carried to fruition through the support of Deputy Chief Peter Sloly (@DeputySloly on Twitter), himself a keen user of social networks. 


Sgt Burrows really came to prominence as the driving force behind the TPS Traffic Services social media initiatives, particularly on Facebook and Twitter. This has become a model in terms of engagement with audiences by police on social networks. Tim now blogs as well. 


He's sought after as a speaker and presenter. Here's a link to a recent presentation he gave to police chiefs in Vancouver. You can hear and see how Sgt Burrows looks at the use of social networks by police in this webcast interview.


Constable Mills has also made a significant impact in building relationships with audiences in many Toronto communities. Working with schools, Crime Stoppers and other organizations, Scott takes the concept of community policing into the age of social media. A brief piece on Scott below:

For all the reasons above, the social network accounts/blogs associated with Sgt Burrows, Constable Mills and the Toronto Police Service, collectively take the 12th spot on my list of the top 25 destinations for social media in emergency management. 


I know I feel safer because of what they do! 


The list so far:
#12: Sgt Tim Burrows, Constable Scott Mills and the Toronto Police Service 
#13: the weekly #smemchat
#14: 999 Social Media 
#15: Brian Humphrey ... a true pionneer 
#16: ushahidi ... witnessing change and progress in SMEM

#17: the iRevolution.net website and blog by Patrick Meier

#18: the Recovery Diva

#19: ESRI's public safety and disaster relief blogs

#20: ConnectedCops and SMILE 

#21: The American Red Cross

#22: Humanity Road

#23: 2BeeReady.org

#24: the CDC and the zombie apocalypse

#25: Hal Grieb

Series introduction

Lucky #13 ... you hear the chatter ?

Up to this point, most of my choices of the top 25 social media in emergency management (SMEM) destinations have either been websites, blogs or Twitter accounts ... or a combination of all these.

Today, my choice is not a person or a group. It's actually a conversation that's been going on for more than a year now. The #smemchat held practically every Friday at 12:30 eastern time, is in my opinion, the best way to spend lunch at work at the end of every week.

More importantly, it's the most comprehensive forum for the exchange of views, opinions and emerging practices on social media in emergency management and crisis communications around. PERIOD. Just take a look at the relevant conversations that occurred last Friday, the day after the shootings at Virginia Tech. For a larger sample of conversations, check out SM4EM.org's page on the chat. It's importance in the advancement of SMEM is unequaled. 

The exchanges are often inspiring (as noted in this blog post by Chris Poirier) and the weekly Twitter chats involve some of the true luminaries pushing the envelope in terms of adoption of social media in emergency management programs. They are too numerous to list all, but they include: @kim26stephens, @thefiretracker2. @EmrgncyTraffic, @greerjacob, @mkelly007, @mpLASD, @_JSPhillips, @CherylBle, @firefighterjp, @garytx ... My apologies if you don't see your twitter handle here ...

To me, the #smemchat is a must ... without a doubt the most significant contribution of the greater #smem community in advancing the cause of social media in emergency management programs as tools to promote preparedness, improve response, speed up recovery and enhance organizational and community resilience.

For these reasons, the #smemchat ranks at 13th on my list of top smem destinations ... Hope to see you on the chat this Friday ...


The list so far:
#13: the weekly #smemchat
#14: 999 Social Media 
#15: Brian Humphrey ... a true pionneer 
#16: ushahidi ... witnessing change and progress in SMEM

#17: the iRevolution.net website and blog by Patrick Meier

#18: the Recovery Diva

#19: ESRI's public safety and disaster relief blogs

#20: ConnectedCops and SMILE 

#21: The American Red Cross

#22: Humanity Road

#23: 2BeeReady.org

#24: the CDC and the zombie apocalypse

#25: Hal Grieb

Series introduction

#14 on the top smem list. Social media Who are you gonna call?

Very few sites have done more to help first responder agencies worldwide get acquainted with the reality of social networks than 999 Social Media. From Manchester, in the U.K., Sam Thomas of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has propagated examples and best use of social media by organizations across the world.


Either from its website, the blog or its very useful Twitter account, 999 Social Media is always informative and points the way to lessons learned and interesting tips. 

999socialmedia 999 Social Media 

Social media should play role in emergency warnings: Vic Flood Review: ow.ly/7VKUh thanks to @policetrainers for the link

16 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

999socialmedia 999 Social Media 

Social media should play role in emergency warnings: Vic Flood Review: ow.ly/7VKUh thanks to @policetrainers for the link

16 hours ago 

For that reason, it sits at number 14 on my list of top 25 destinations in social media in emergency management. 


The list so far:
#14: 999 Social Media 
#15: Brian Humphrey ... a true pionneer 
#16: ushahidi ... witnessing change and progress in SMEM

#17: the iRevolution.net website and blog by Patrick Meier

#18: the Recovery Diva

#19: ESRI's public safety and disaster relief blogs

#20: ConnectedCops and SMILE 

#21: The American Red Cross

#22: Humanity Road

#23: 2BeeReady.org

#24: the CDC and the zombie apocalypse

#25: Hal Grieb

Series introduction

at number 15: a "torch bearer for SMEM"

At spot number 15 on my list of top #25 destinations for social media in emergency management, sits a true pioneer in the use of social media by first responder agencies.


Brian Humphrey (@BrianHumphrey on Twitter) has helped make the Los Angeles Fire Department a recognized leader in the use of SM. More than that, leading by example, Brian has enabled other first responder agencies to get over their initial suspicions of social media.


A look at the LAFD's news and information section of their website is pretty revealing: a pretty good integration of blogs, info, and social media accounts, in addition to audio and video content. Of particular importance to me, are their two Twitter accounts ... the first is to provide incident-specific info and the second, is all about engaging with audiences which shows a real desire to listen and learn from the people the LAFD serves.

That sure sign of maturity in an organization is telling of the influence of Brian Humphrey in promoting the acceptance of social media by fire, police and EMS, but also by many other types of agencies. For that reason, he occupies the 15th spot on my list.


The list so far:
#15: Brian Humphrey
#16: ushahidi ... witnessing change and progress in SMEM

#17: the iRevolution.net website and blog by Patrick Meier

#18: the Recovery Diva

#19: ESRI's public safety and disaster relief blogs

#20: ConnectedCops and SMILE 

#21: The American Red Cross

#22: Humanity Road

#23: 2BeeReady.org

#24: the CDC and the zombie apocalypse

#25: Hal Grieb

Series introduction

At 16 on the top 25 SMEM destinations: witness to progress

Born in the aftermath of a violent election in Kenya, Ushahidi amply merits the #16 spot on my list of top 25 online destinations social media in emergency management. If Patrick Meier (who sits at #18 on my list) can be considered a guru of crisis mapping, then Ushahidi is the grandfather.


The founders of Ushahidi and the team that supports the multiple deployment of the platforms around the world, have given crisis mapping and crowdsourcing during emergencies their "lettre de noblesse" ... their title of legitimacy of sorts.

Whether in Haiti or in Japan, the use of the Ushahidi/Swiftriver/crowdmap set of tools has made a real difference in the response and recovery phase. If social media is about empowerment of the citizens ... turning witnesses and victims into participants, then Ushahidi is about giving them the tools to make a valuable contribution that can be legitimized and integrated into emergency management programs around the world.


Of particular interest for emergency managers is the analytical tools offered by Swiftriver that allow real-time evaluation and validation of social media and other info.

For its key role in advancing the use of social media, crowdsourcing and crisis mapping in disasters, the Ushahidi nexus ranks at 16 on my list. 


The list so far:
#16: ushahidi ... witnessing change and progress in SMEM

#17: the iRevolution.net website and blog by Patrick Meier

#18: the Recovery Diva

#19: ESRI's public safety and disaster relief blogs

#20: ConnectedCops and SMILE 

#21: The American Red Cross

#22: Humanity Road

#23: 2BeeReady.org

#24: the CDC and the zombie apocalypse

#25: Hal Grieb

Series introduction

number 17 on the SMEM list: a revolution in disaster and humanitarian response

Few people have had a bigger role in shaping the future of evidence-based humanitarian and disaster relief as the man behind the website/blog which sits at #17 on my list of top 25 SMEM destinations.

Patrick Meier, scholar, crisis mappers and humanist, is making history. Through his engagement with Ushahidi (more to come on that topic later in our series), he's helping blaze a trail of innovation, participation and crowdsourcing that's making a difference around the world. 

When Patrick blogs on iRevolution.net people listen, particularly when he raises issues such as data validation on social media for crisis mapping and crowdsourcing, or helping with the monitoring of flawed elections in Russia, his blogposts become authoritative statements.

For most, that would be more than enough, but Patrick Meier is also co-founder of the International Network of Crisis Mappers (Crisis Mappers Net) and the Standby Task Force, two of the most important organizations/networks in crisis mapping and crowdsourcing. To give you an idea of where this all leads, consult some crisis mapping highlights.

For his ideas and for setting new horizons in the use of social media in disasters, Patrick Meier's iRevolution.net is #17 on my list. 

Watch and learn what motivates him.

The list so far:

#17: the iRevolution.net website and blog by Patrick Meier

#18: the Recovery Diva

#19: ESRI's public safety and disaster relief blogs

#20: ConnectedCops and SMILE 

#21: The American Red Cross

#22: Humanity Road

#23: 2BeeReady.org

#24: the CDC and the zombie apocalypse

#25: Hal Grieb

Series introduction

#18 on the list. If content is king, then the diva is queen!

I'm a blogger ... that's what I like to do: share my observations. So, to me, providing well thought out content is crucial to success and relevance. There are few more relevant blogs out there on emergency management than the one written by Claire Rubin, "the Recovery Diva".

The Diva focuses on an often neglected facet of emergency management. Since most of it is long-term, recovery is not as sexy as disaster response or preparedness even. There are no zombies in the recovery promotion biz ...

What Claire offers though, is a critical take on the need for partnerships, whole-of-community approach and leadership in the recovery process. Whether lauding the role of the private sector in spurring efforts and working with governments, or highlighting lessons learned, content always prevails.

For that reason, the Recovery Diva blog is #18 on my list of top 25 SMEM destinations.

The list so far:

#18: the Recovery Diva

#19: ESRI's public safety and disaster relief blogs

#20: ConnectedCops and SMILE 

#21: The American Red Cross

#22: Humanity Road

#23: 2BeeReady.org

#24: the CDC and the zombie apocalypse

#25: Hal Grieb

Series introduction

#19 on the SMEM list .... knowing where help is needed

As I progress down to the very top of the list of most important (to me anyways !) social media in emergency management destinations on the web, I realize that my list is very varied. In a way, that reflects my desire not to get pigeonholed.

One of my field of interests is crowdsourcing and crisis mapping. The very basic of that is having good data and a solid starting base. That's why ESRI's Public Safety Blog and the Disaster Relief Blog together rank at #19 on my list. ESRI's collaboration with Volunteer Technical Communities has been extraordinary.

While expanding its line of business, the company has not forgotten the concept of "giving back". Their contribution to disaster relief has made a difference by helping groups and agencies provide solid data. The blog is full of useful tips and info. The resulting efforts by volunteers and officials from around the world helps provide essential situational awareness as was the case during hurricanes for example.

If crisis mapping is the most dynamic visualisation of SMEM inputs by agencies and citizens ... then good GIS support is the canvas that makes this happen ... For showing emergency managers what the future may hold as a result of the marriage of GIS technology, imagery and social media ... ESRI's key properties rank 19th on my list

The list so far:

#20: SMILE Conference/Connected Cops
#21: The American Red Cross
#22: Humanity Road
#23: 2BeeReady.org 
#24: the CDC and the Zombie apocalypse
#25: Hal Grieb
Series introduction

#20 on the list : law and order in on social media

The next entry on the top list of SMEM destinations is the SMILE Conference/Connected Cops nexus. Led by the inimitable Lauri Stevens, the SMILE (social media, the internet and law enforcement) Conference has become a key event to expand the use of social networks among the world's police services.

With the ConnectedCops.net site continuing to provide high-quality content through blog posts and contributions from around the world on the use of social media in policing, both the conferences and the web property are now essential professional development tools for any police officer needing to get into the age of social convergence.

There are direct links to the world of emergency management as this recent post indicates. For these reasons, ConnectedCops.net and the SMILE Conference website jointly occupy the 20th spot on my list of top smem destinations.

The list so far:
#21: the American Red Cross web and social media properties
#22: Humanity Road
#23: 2BeeRady.org 
#24: The CDC and zombies
#25: Hal Grieb ... a pioneer
Series introduction

Number 21 on the list: a leader in the promotion of social media in disasters

Entry #21 on the list is another example of very well executed integration of web, blog and social network accounts to accomplish the organization's goals. Starting with the main website, the American Red Cross has proven a leader in championing the use of social media during disasters.

In particular, their survey on the use of social media in emergencies provided the needed impetus for more and more groups and agencies to start using these tools. Led by Wendy Harman (@wharman on Twitter), their social media group is very effective. Their handbook on the use of social media for their local chapters is very intuitive and easy to use.

Using Twitter, Facebook and Youtube in a coordinated fashion has brought the Red Cross tons of credibility. For all these reasons, they rank 21st in my ranking.


Number 22: Humanity Road (Dec. 4)
Number 23: 2BeeReady.org (Dec. 2)
Number 24: the CDC Zombie Apocalypse (Dec. 1)
Number 25: Hal Grieb (November 30)
Series introduction (November 29)