Sharing information about violent crime on Facebook is a bad idea because it could scare people, council officers say.
West Sussex County Council was asked about sharing more information about violent crime during a debate about the work of the Safer West Sussex Partnership.
During a scrutiny committee meeting on Monday (November 25), Sarah Sharp (Green & Independent Alliance, Chichester South) pointed out that most of the posts on the West Sussex Community Safety page were about fraud and scams.
Speaking to Alex O’Keeffe, the council’s community safety manager, Mrs Sharp pointed out the lack of posts giving people information about what to look out for and how to keep themselves and children safe.
While violent crime makes up only 1% of crime in the county, its impact on victims is long-reaching.
Mr O’Keeffe said: “We have made a decision not to really promote serious violence through our social media content.
“There’s two reasons for that. I think it can have an unintended consequence of elevating fear of serious violence.
“Also the users of our Facebook and social media aren’t necessarily the audience we want to speak to. A lot of the serious violence has been driven by young people and they tend to not follow the local authority and West Sussex County Council.”
But he agreed to raise the matter with the community safety team.
The partnership has been working closely with schools on the matter of exploitation and violent crime, arranging parent workshops and placing articles in newsletters.
As for the current use of social media, Mr O’Keeffe added: “The digital safety and fraud message always feels a lot easier. It’s much more relatable for most people.
“[With] serious violence it’s hard to get the tone right, is probably the best way of putting it.”
