According to its own information, the Osnabrück police department is the first police force to say goodbye to the Internet portal X, formerly Twitter. Instead, it wants to turn to WhatsApp to inform the approximately 1.5 million citizens, as around 50 police accounts have already done. They also want to close the accounts of the surrounding police forces and move them to WhatsApp. One reason for this is the change in the use of X, which means that “police communication over long distances is no longer easily possible,” it is said.
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“Communication and usage behavior on Michael Massman explainsPresident of the Osnabrück Police Department. The police sees the WhatsApp channel as “a promising alternative platform that restores operational communication in a future-oriented way, especially in large police operations leading to terrorist or counter-terrorist situations.” The police hopes that the use of the WhatsApp channel will lead to “greater reach” and many well-informed citizens.
Police follow the flow of users
In addition to WhatsApp, the police in Osnabrück have been using the Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn platforms for their online communication for several years. “We have to be there and reach out where people are,” emphasizes police spokesman Marco Ellermann. WhatsApp channels are available in Germany from autumn 2023 and are also used, for example, to communicate disruptions related to state health IT. After opening WhatsApp, the channels can be found directly under “News” next to “Chat”. There you also have the opportunity to “discover” additional channels that can be found using the search and then subscribed to.
Since the beginning of 2024, several police departments have also registered there and now have thousands of subscribers; the Osnabrück police account created on July 19 has almost 600 subscribers (as of August 30, 2024).
In 2016, police communication was highly praised on Twitter for the work of the Munich police in the terrorist attack at the Olympia shopping center. Communicating quickly and discreetly that evening was a challenge. Just a few days ago asked the Munich policeShould it present its traditional “Weinswache”, a humorous coverage of the Oktoberfest, for 24 hours on X again this year? Around 76 percent of voting users were in favor. Other police forces also continue to use X for live reporting in certain situations, including with their own account in Berlin.Berlin police operation,
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