Will the Police be keeping their "Kill first, lie later" policy in 2014? #askmetboss
— Speedloafer (@Speedloafer) January 15, 2014
How come when police tell you to do something they're frequently unable to say what law they're enforcing? #askmetboss
—HarryStopes(@HarryStopes)January 15, 2014
@metpoliceuk #askmetboss In the Duggan case offices agreed their statements before submitting them. Is that usual? Why is that tolerated?
— Rory Tregaskis (@RoTreg) January 15, 2014
RT @GABaines: How often the the Police massage crime statistics? #askmetboss
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 15, 2014
. @GABaines Don't believe we do. Stats can be wrong. It's complex area to explain. HMIC looking at this area this year. #askmetboss
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 15, 2014
RT @yorkeboypaul: #askmetboss Y do you never back ur men,hesntsupposedtobpoliticalyetstandsoutsidecourt&never stands up for cops
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 15, 2014
So, they can create the appearance of genuine openness by answering critical, yet relatively tame, questions with platitudes, while ignoring the genuine zingers.The Met have a history of influencing old media to shape stories, so perhaps this foray into Twitter is unsurprising. But that doesn't mean they've quite attuned themselves to the constant ebb and flow of new media just yet. Just hours after the jury of the Mark Duggan inquest arrived at the decision it was a lawful killing, the Met tweeted this:. @yorkeboypaul I'm proud of the people I lead and say so whenever possible. Not everyone hears clearly. #askmetboss
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 15, 2014
Only 5 days left to get your votes in for the bravest act of police work last year. Vote now for your favourite http://t.co/ouvjJmw0dU
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 8, 2014
Or caring:Innovative parking solution or a close call - driver uninjured #police #exeter pic.twitter.com/RbHzh7ipzB
— Topsham Police (@TopshamPolice) January 3, 2014
Or cute:Twitter is in many ways a dream for the police. People snitch on themselves – volunteering their movement, their thoughts and their friendship circles without the need for a clandestine surveillance programme. The flipside of this has been the platform’s democratising effect. “Twitter revolutions” was something of a misnomer, focusing on how people organise Molotov cocktail parties rather than why they want to do so in the first place, but social media has certainly had a role in holding power to account and even in toppling dictators.But what happens when the tool is used by the state to deviate discussion? It looks like openness and engagement but in reality it's thinly veiled PR. Twitter might be emerging as a new beat where officers do their community engagement but transparency is not a tweet and accountability is more than a hashtag.Follow Symeon on Twitter: @symeonbrownMore on the police:Spending a Night in Tottenham After the Mark Duggan InquestI Went Stop and Searching in Soho with the London MetThe Metropolitan Police Are Out of ControlPlease retweet if you know anybody who has / works with children! pic.twitter.com/kGZ0Ee2tjr
— Sgt Ashley Rose (@MPSCanningTnSgt) January 3, 2014