Humorous memes, self-deprecating jokes, a 99 per cent response rate balanced with informative in-house awareness videos and creative digital posters —- the official Facebook page of Kerala Police has all this and more.
And on January 10, the state police marked a milestone when the Facebook page garnered more than 1 million likes —- surpassing the popularity of the New York Police Department (NYPD).
Behind the success of the page is a team of four policemen (a fifth officer left the team recently), who were hired after taking a detailed test to be part of the social media cell.
Using a meme from a popular Malayalam-language flick, the team sought to warn offenders who speak on cellphones while driving a motorcycle or car. “It got us over 3,000 likes.
The devastating floods of August showed the team what an expertly-managed social media page could achieve. “We got close to 25,000 messages those days. People in foreign countries, whose families were stuck in the floods, would send us messages about their loved ones. We would relay all those messages to the wireless team at the control room,” said Arun, from the team.
Read more of this in a report by Vishnu Varma published in the Indian Express....
(Such interventions really help the commoner. Other state police should replicate, and now they can get expert opinion from someone who has achieved success. - Editor)
