Lancashire police workers warned over social networking sites (From Preston and Leyland Citizen)

Lancashire police workers warned over social networking sites

7:50pm Wednesday 19th November 2008

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By Sally Henfield »

POLICE are being told to exercise caution on social networking sites following complaints about officers posting pictures of boozy nights out.

Leading officers feel that some images being uploaded onto sites such as Facebook, Bebo and Myspace could harm the professional image of its staff.

Complaints have been made about police officers and comm-unity support officers posting pictures of themselves drunk and writing messages about their alcohol-fuelled exploits.

There are also concerns that organised gangs could hack into pages and use officers’ information for criminal purposes.

A Lancashire Constabulary spokesman said: “The use of these sites is now common practice and we would not look to restrict the personal lives of our employees.

“However, it is imperative that the inherent dangers are fully understood by all staff.

“Information placed on such sites is rarely secure and can remain available for excessive lengths of time. The lengths taken by organised crime gro-ups to access this information cannot be underestimated.

“Guidance has also been issued to members of the const-abulary to be conscious of the fact that certain activity within these sites may constitute ‘conduct likely to bring discr-edit upon the police service’.

“The full impact of issues relating to social networking sites is under review, but in the meantime staff are being asked to carefully consider these issues and the potential risks they may be taking when participating in such activity.”

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