36 social media experts are supposed to find out for the NRW police and support the officers with information from Twitter, Facebook & Co. – especially in large-scale operations, rampages or missing persons.
The project is initially limited to the six main crime centers in Münster, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen and Cologne. The first social media experts have now been hired, reports Leonie Möllmann, spokeswoman for the NRW Ministry of the Interior, at the request of our newspaper. “First, however, extensive training is required.” It is expected that six social media experts will be ready for action in each of the six authorities by the middle of the year.
The police searched nationwide for IT and social media experts. “After all, the market for suitably qualified specialists is large,” says Leoni Möllmann. There were a three-digit number of applications. The civilian employees, who act as government employees, are supposed to relieve the officials. “This enables the police officers to concentrate on their legal duties of averting danger and prosecuting law,” explains Leoni Möllmann.
The Twitter researchers are connected directly to the control centers of the police headquarters in a “monitoring and communication center”. They work around the clock in three shifts and are supposed to send the officers additional information directly on their smartphones while they are driving to the scene.
Because when it comes to tricky operations, the following applies: It almost always has to be particularly fast. For example, even if a person announces their suicide on the Internet. “The police are already confronted with publications of this kind,” says Leoni Möllmann. It also happens that contact is lost with helpless people who have previously reported to the police. “A quick online search can result in the police being able to obtain important information about a possible whereabouts or other contacts.”
The Home Office believes that using the social media experts will lead to success. After all, there was already the “Sentinel” research project of the German Police University on the subject – with the involvement of the Dortmund police. Those involved have come to the conclusion that additional research in social media is of decisive help to the police officers during operations.
The social media experts are to remain permanently in the police headquarters. In the next few weeks, the focus will be on training for the first major missions. But soon the Twitter researchers have to prove that they are a real reinforcement for the police in an emergency.
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