Police force pays company £54k to help manage social media account

TWO police forces are paying a company tens of thousands of pounds to help manage their social media accounts.

Gwent Police and Dyfed-Powys Police have jointly procured Orlo, based in Birmingham, to provide a management platform for the forces’ various Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The value of the year-long Dyfed-Powys Police contract is £70,080 - with the option of a year’s extension - and Gwent Police’s is £54,750. Both sums exclude VAT.

Procured through public sector portal Sell2Wales, the job description for potential bidders explained that social media was increasingly used by the public to engage with police.

And with more and more police social media accounts in operation, it said it was vital that the forces mitigated “this significant reputational risk” through an appropriate management platform to monitor and help control content.

Gwent Police said it received hundreds of non-urgent calls a day and, following a trial in 2018, employs a team to help call operators by responding to non-urgent crime and provide advice via social media.

A Gwent Police spokesman said this team received 9,097 contacts from the public last month via social media.

The spokesman said: “This service is available 24 hours per day, seven days a week and allows our communities to contact us when they may need us but means we can also inform them about live time incidents that may occur.

“We recognise also that while some people will prefer to use the phone, an increasing number favour the use of social media to make contact.

“Having a platform which allows the public to write down their report or concern helps them receive a better level of service appropriate to their needs from Gwent Police.

“We’re constantly looking at ways in which we can improve our service, allowing Gwent Police to become more efficient, more effective and, most importantly, more accessible to our communities.

“The platform also helps us manage a number of neighbourhood police accounts which help our officers keep their local community up-todate.”

Gwent Police used to commission a different social media company before it chose Orlo.

“The new provider was selected after the previous agreement came to end and following a full competitive tender process,” added the spokesman.