23-203 Management of Department Social Media Accounts

The purpose of this Department Notice is to outline the policy regarding the management of San Francisco Police Department's official social media sites.

The purpose of these sites is to enable the SFPD to post matters of public interest concerning the department's programs, activities, news stories and photos. If the particular social media account setting is turned on to allow the public to comment, it is to allow members of the public to comment on those particular posts. The department's intent is to create a limited public forum devoted exclusively to its postings, and allow members of the public to comment on the particular posting.

Our social media policy welcomes debate and discussion, and seeks to maintain an environment that is civil and appropriate for all ages. The department reserves the right to remove comments only to the extent that they:

• Are unrelated to the subject of the SFPD's post.
• Contain demonstrably false statements of fact.
• Promote or advertise a business, or propose a commercial transaction.
• Support or oppose candidates for elective office or ballot measures.
• Contain content that violates a legal ownership interest of any party, such as trademarked or copyrighted material.
• Communicate private personal information (whether the commenter's or someone else's), including home address, home or cell phone number, personal e-mail address, or personal identification numbers.
• Duplicate posts by the same commenter.
• Contain links to external websites.
• Are likely to incite imminent lawless action.
• Constitute criminal threats, or constitute an element of any crime.

Members who manage official social media accounts for the department or district stations shall adhere to this policy. Individuals who repeatedly post content on Facebook, Twitter, etc. that violate the above stated policy may be blocked from the social media page for a period of 48 hours. Members managing department social media accounts should contact the Media Relations Unit prior to blocking users.

Members shall not endorse or oppose comments placed on a social media site by members of the public.

Inquiries or comments on the reporting of crime shall not be conducted on social media. Persons reporting a crime shall be referred to the appropriate SFPD resource (i.e. dispatch, police officer, online report, district station report, etc.).

Public Records Request/ SF Sunshine Requests shall not be addressed on these social media forums. Persons inquiring on public record requests shall be referred to Public Records Request webpage.

It is department policy that SFPD Media Relations Unit shall be responsible for the release of requested booking photographs and incident reports to the media and posting booking photos to the department webpage and social media accounts.

Refer to Department Notice 23-066 Department Media Relations and Social Media - Booking Photos and Arrestee Information for further information.

/s/
WILLIAM SCOTT 
Chief of Police

Per DN 23-152, all sworn & non-sworn members shall electronically acknowledge this Department document in PowerDMS within (30) thirty calendar days of issuance. Members whose duties are relevant to this document shall be held responsible for compliance. Any questions regarding this policy should be sent to [email protected] who will provide additional information.