Police presentational strategies on Twitter in Canada

This empirically driven paper explores police presentational strategies on popular micro-blogging social media site Twitter. A total of 105,801 tweets from Canadian Toronto Police Service Twitter accounts were examined using qualitative document analysis. Thematic issues associated with police professionalism and community policing are identified. A finding that runs throughout each thematic includes official police officer use of Twitter while off duty. A basic argument advanced herein is that official off duty use of Twitter delineates the individual officer from the policing institution but does so in an official capacity, a presentational strategy that diminishes the appearance of authoritarian relations traditionally associated with police. Suggestions for future research are noted.