Finnish Police in YouTube

There are many ways how police as an organization is trying to influence people. Today the best way to try to find the right target group is to go to the social media. It is not the most common way for a public organization as you can read from Jaakko's blog - Public Organizations and PR. But Finnish Police is in the frontline as an public organization in social media.

Just today police have published a short film in YouTube. You can find it here. This is a new way to do Police PR.

How to create a good reputation?

In Finland police have a good reputation. That is a fact, if we believe in inquiries and barometers. But reputation do not come unassisted, the reputation has to be built somehow. 

Police officers built reputation everyday, when they are doing their work in the field. A big part of police work is to communicate with ordinary people in ordinary matters. Everything that police does, do not relate to something "bad", like violent crimes. So, every police officer builds police reputation by doing his work well, that is communicating with ordinary people. That’s the best PR that organization can get.  

Sonja comment my first writing. She had red that police’s reality shows has increased the number of applicants to Police School. That is true. The number of applicants did increase when that TV -serial started. TV has increased polices good reputation by showing the basic police work. In that show police does its everyday work well, and that increases its good reputation.

Does good work built good reputation in every organization?

Old time communication

”Samoin kielletään vartiokonstaapeleita ankarimmin lähestymästä katukäytävää silloin, kun joku käytävällä ohi kulkeva häneltä pyytää neuvoa, sillä se on kysyjän asia tulla konstaapelin luokse, jos hänellä on jotain kysyttävää.” Poliisin tiedotustoiminnan yleisohje vuodelta 1922

”Also it is strictly forbidden for a police officer to approach a sidewalk when there is someone coming closer and asking an advice, because it is that persons concern to come closer to officer if he has something to ask.” Finnish Police’s communication guideline, 1922

As some of you might know, I’m working as an inspector in Police Department of Central Finland. My job is to take care of police departments’ communication. That’s not my only responsibility, but it is the most time-consuming and, I have to say, the most difficult part of my work. That’s why I’m doing this - studying organizational communication here in Jyväskylä Open University. And when time goes on, I might even learn something - I hope! For me the best way to learn communication skills is to take only small steps at a time. And this is one of those small steps (it might seem really small for you). I am now starting something unusual for me. I’m bloging! How great is that!

My blog’s headline is Police and PR. I don’t want to draw the line only in Finnish Police, because I’m very interested to hear how things are in other countries, how Police is taken care of its PR abroad. So feel free to comment and give examples from all around the world.

 

I was wondering if things have changed in past years from that guideline I wrote at the beginning? What do you think? Have things changed in Finland? Or is Finnish Police still communicating like that guideline tell us to do - not communicating at all? I might be little (?) too partisan to tell you how Finnish Police are, but I hope you can find Police officers here in Finland rather easy to approach. My opinion is that the best way for police to do good PR is to be easy to approach and be close of citizens.

 

In this blog I try to give you a little view of Finnish Police’s PR and communication skills; or lack of those skills. It is for you to decide… - so Hand’s Up and don’t move, there is more to come!