Calgary Police Service wins Social Media Award

Thanks to the collaboration between The City of Calgary, the media and all Calgarians, the Calgary Police Service (CPS) has been recognized for their role using social media during the June 2013 floods.

 

The international award was presented last week at a law enforcement social media conference called Connected Cops, and was accepted on behalf of all partnering agencies and Calgarians who took to social media to share vital information during the crisis.

 

With the water rising rapidly on the first day of the floods, many Calgarians turned to social media to get the latest updates. At one point, the demand for information was so great that @CalgaryPolice was put in ‘Twitter jail’ for exceeding the daily maximum number of tweets as they responded to questions and shared evacuation details.

 

“Calgarians immediately rallied and lobbied Twitter to get our accounts back up and active,” said Digital Communication Team Lead Sean Stephenson. “They played a tremendous role in not only getting our account back up but also keeping the spirits of emergency responders high with their support, pictures, videos and incredible acts of kindness over Twitter and Facebook.”

 

The City of Calgary and CPS worked closely together throughout the floods to ensure Calgarians were kept informed through social media channels. However, the media and the public played a huge role in spreading those messages even further.  

 

“This award isn’t for me, it’s not for my team, and it’s not for the Calgary Police Service. This award belongs to Calgarians. Thank you for your continued support and for taking our messages and moving them from social media to social groups.”