On January 30, 2015, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon, EST, BJA will host “The Importance of Privacy and Social Media Policies in Law Enforcement” Webinar. BJA recognizes that privacy is a core value of society—a right that is protected by federal and state constitutions and expected by citizens. BJA, through the U.S. Department of Justice, encourages law enforcement agencies to vigorously protect information privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. Law enforcement officials, no matter what rank, must ensure that taking into account and respecting the privacy and civil rights of individuals is a fundamental responsibility of the job and essential to building communities of trust. Many government entities, including law enforcement, now use social media to interact with the public, provide information on crime trends and community events, and share tips on keeping citizens safe. Unfortunately, social media sites are also being used to instigate or conduct criminal activity. These sites are now viewed as another resource in the law enforcement investigative toolbox and should be used in an appropriate manner that adheres to the same principles that govern law enforcement activity.
BJA’s privacy Webinar will feature presentations by representatives from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and the Connect South Dakota (Connect SD) statewide information sharing system. The GBI panel will provide a background on the fusion center privacy policy development movement and discuss some of the positive outcomes experienced as a result of GBI’s proactive privacy protection efforts. Additionally, GBI will highlight the reasons why it was important to have a privacy and a social media policy. The Connect SD panel will discuss the background, goals, and achievements of the Connect SD system, particularly, its privacy protection efforts. The Connect SD initiative links records management systems (RMS) and jail management systems (JMS) together, statewide. Connect SD panelists will provide insights on how they were able to obtain adoption of the Connect SD Privacy Policy by law enforcement agencies and how they successfully provided privacy training across the state. Finally, the webinar will conclude with an overview of BJA’s suite of privacy resources, each designed to meet a particular need in an agency’s privacy program, it.ojp.gov/privacy.
To access the free Webinar on January 30, 2015, at 11:00 a.m., EST, select https://iir.adobeconnect.com/r48tmyrx65x/ (for video) and dial (866) 200-5786 and enter Access code 2614808 to hear the audio conference.