America’s Chief Of Police: David A. Oliver

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I’ve lauded the advantages of a social media presence for quite some time. It’s nothing short of vindicating to see social media being done right. The prime example of that can be found in Chief David Oliver of the Brimfield Police Department. The Township of Brimfield, Ohio boasts a population of just over 10,000 people, and is a mere 12 miles outside of Akron, and about 45 miles from Cleveland. If you’re not aware of this self-titled “internet sensation,” you’re missing out. From his “Chief’s Babble” to “Chief’s Rant,” this gentleman has taken an entire police department to the height of Internet fame.

The Brimfield PD Facebook page went live May 25, 2010; it took nearly 2 years to get to 3,000 likes. Just recently the BPD page crested 90,000 likes — that’s nine times the number of people over whom Chief Oliver and his officers are entrusted to serve and protect. I asked him what he thought about this achievement. He said, “I’m very humbled and grateful for this entire experience. I do not and have never considered it a personal achievement. Without my great group of officers and civilian coworkers, I would be some really touched guy, ranting about things that bothered me. My crew is what makes our page successful. They work selflessly and deserve all of the credit.”

But how can a department garner this kind of attention? What’s secret ingredient has catapulted a small, rural department ahead of police juggernauts in huge cities like Boston and New York?
Authenticity.

People Behind The Page

You simply can’t maintain the level of interaction and popularity in a classically ADD culture such as ours without being real and authentic. You may have some initial successes, but to continue to grow and influence others, be they cops, civilians or entire other departments, you have to be credible. This is where the Brimfield PD and Chief Oliver in particular succeed.

The chief said, “I first noticed in about 2010 a whole bunch of people kept mentioning Facebook. I started looking around and discovered some departments had ‘pages’; however, I have likened those to operating rooms. They were very sterile, just-the-facts kind of information.” He decided the Brimfield PD Facebook page would have a personality beyond simple police blotter facts and figures. All too often, civilians see us from the badge down. They rarely see the man or woman behind the badge. Chief Oliver’s doing a great job showing the world what really goes on in a cop’s brain and is refocusing folks’ attention on the true face of police work.

The chief and I agree wholeheartedly regarding law enforcement and the use of social media. He told me, “I believe we cannot afford to be absent from social media. The police need to be on the information highway. If we don’t tell our story, someone else surely will. There are great stories of stellar law enforcement officers all over this planet; they need to be told. Aside from the telling of our story aspect of social media, there’s information that needs to be disseminated to our residents in real time. Social media is a must for law enforcement.”

What’s A Chief To Do?

Of course, there are two sides to every coin. When asked about the negativity regarding the use of social media, Chief Oliver replied, “The usual (complaint) is I spend too much time on social media instead of doing my job. Many of the people who offer that opinion have no clue what a police chief does. They don’t get the community relations and outreach aspect of the job title. I’ve had zero issues politically. I have great bosses who know me well and understand what I do is for the department and the community.”

It’s incumbent upon the powers that be to see the opportunity intrinsic to social media and free up the proper folks to implement it. Case in point: Chief Oliver said, “By far, the greatest achievement of our social media experience has been the relationship we’ve built in all 50 states and 30 countries; we get messages from all over. These messages are stories of experiences had by our friends; messages of gratitude and the best are certainly from former ‘cop haters’ who’ve changed their opinion of law enforcement after spending some time on our page.”

Can your department claim a tenth of the numbers in his response? Do you have that reach? That influence? What’s stopping you?

His final piece of advice: “I understand the reservations and hesitation; however, a police agency cannot afford to miss this opportunity. It’ll take them years to catch the pace if they do. We use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Nixle and we have our own smartphone app. It took 3 years to get to this position and lots of hard work. Every day a department delays (entering the world of social media) is one more day of not getting information and a message out to the customers. Like any other idea, you get out of it what you put forth. We’re successful because we nurture and maintain our presence. I love the profession and anything we can do to further it, we do.”

Every department deserves a Chief Oliver. He’s an outstanding leader who isn’t afraid of putting himself out there for the betterment of his community, his department and his officers. He’s doing social media right.
By Jason Hoschouer