To know or not to know, which is better? (From Daily Echo)

I think knowing what is going on in the local area is a good think. I know Portsmouth SNT team is now on twitter which I think makes good use of today's technology. Maybe more twitter or other social feeds from other areas in the force would be a good idea. I do think however that it it common sense to secure your own property and that the police should not be criticised if someone fails to do this.

Hants Police are on Twitter and have a Facebook page.

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Hants Police are on Twitter and have a Facebook page.

I know I said if you read my post. I was suggesting they have more twitter and facebook pages for your local OCU rather than a blanket Hampshire page.

sotonwinch09 wrote:

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Hants Police are on Twitter and have a Facebook page.

I know I said if you read my post. I was suggesting they have more twitter and facebook pages for your local OCU rather than a blanket Hampshire page.

Sorry I don't talk in acronyms, managed to work out Safe Neighbourhood teams, which do indeed have Facebook pages in Southampton and community teams. but what is OCU????????????????? most public wont' know what those acronyms mean.

I didn't quote your post, it was for general info.

Operational Command Units (OCUs). Hants are spilt into 6 OCUs (inc. the IOW as one too).

Chief Superintendent Greening, thank you very much for inviting your readers to comment in this blog post of yours. Quite refreshing to see.
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Firstly, I am very interested that you'll be making available online yourselves, some details of crime happening in the City. Are you referring to the CADDIE website currently online, or will there be something more? CADDIE is a few months out of date for me, and as you know, things do change.
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I think that it is excellent to make available to the public more info about what you are tackling in their area. Which I imagine would serve well to bring about more awareness. And in the case of burglaries: awareness to the individual to make sure they take prevision against being a victim, if they know their area has seen an increase.
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First hand factual information that is easily accessible to the public is certainly a step in the right direction towards openness, clarity and reassurance.
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I would like to see that the Soton OCU has its own website aside from its section in the Hants site. This would make it so much easier for local people to check on you and more easily access information such as CADDIE.
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The Hants website is rather static, once you've seen it, there's not much to bring you back. I do feel that there should be something else, more so, so that we can make a closer connection to the Soton OCU.
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Somewhere where Soton OCU can give news and other information to the local public would be much appreciated by us. I know Hants make use of facebook for updates and info, etc. which is great but is more of an overview of the County. For the Soton OCU to make use of those social network facilities, Twitter, etc. would be a great advantage in connecting closer with the people of Southampton. I'd strongly recommend a stand-alone website too, if you can afford it! (I don't own a facebook page so updates through that channel are useless for me!).
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In response to your other questions:
is it better to be very clear about that or does even the mention of burglaries increasing give rise to a disproportionate fear of being a victim?
No I would not say the mention of an increase gives rise to a disproportionate fear, if kept frequently informed from the outset. However, considering your next question...
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What do you think about the way we do or maybe should communicate what's going on in the City?
I would say to build a strong direct interaction between the police and the public, such as through your own website, Twitter, etc. is far better than using the intermediary of the press.
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An example of this is the "whipping up" of your release of the increase in burglaries over the Yuletide season that we've just seen the Echo has reported on in its weekend addition.
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This is what can give rise to a disproportionate fear. We all know that crime doesn't take a vacation even over Christmas! And they can also make attempts to undermine the work of the police at times too; in that I refer to a recent Echo article on the public cost/work done by the PCSOs.
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Is it unsettling to hear about crime or is it at least better to know what is going on?
Crime is always unsettling to hear about but it is certainly better to know what is going on. And the more clearly and frequently you can let the public know, the more informed they of the active policing in the City, the better for us all.
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I hope this feedback is of interest to you Chief Superintendent Greening, I look forward to your next blog post!

sotonwinch09 wrote:

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Hants Police are on Twitter and have a Facebook page.

I know I said if you read my post. I was suggesting they have more twitter and facebook pages for your local OCU rather than a blanket Hampshire page.

Quite agree with you sotonwinch!

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Hants Police are on Twitter and have a Facebook page.

so what?football thread.