Thursday, April 25, 2013

Old Dog - New Tricks

Okay, it's time for change.  You CAN teach old dogs new tricks. 

After more than 30 years in this business, social media is changing how we communicate with each other.  When I first started in law enforcement (1980), we had two daily newspapers (the Post and the Globe) and about five television stations.  The police rarely admitted to crime happening, let alone initiate a news story. 

Today, we have one daily paper, but I counted over 600 cable stations on TV, with at least 20 dedicated to some sort of news or what they call news.  News sources on the Internet are too many to count.  Do we really need that many news organizations?  I digress. 

The bottomline is that people are no longer getting their news from just a few sources.  They get much of it from Internet and social media sites.  With that said, I've embraced "some" social media.  I have a Facebook account and Tweet quite often.  That's not enough.   

Many have asked why I haven't set up a blog like Chief Sam Dotson (St. Louis City PD).  I told them that I didn't know how to set up a blog and that Chief Dotson was (much) younger and more tech savvy than me.  I said I would try to learn.  Take my word for it - nobody at my offices in Clayton could help.

Here's my first attempt.  I'll do my best not to get myself in trouble by saying exactly what's on my mind.  However, if I do, it certainly won't be the first time.  Wish me luck.

9 comments:

  1. Chief...old dogs like us can learn new tricks..Semper Fidelis Steve Reese

    ReplyDelete
  2. So this is what a blog looks like. My first time to check one out. Looks like two old dogs are taking a new path. Good luck. keep shooting straight like you always have abd you'll do great.

    Semper cop, take care
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank goodness for some "OLD DOGS"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Chief, You will find out that a WHOLE lot of us can teach each other new things. Blogging will come a lot easier to you than you think. We understand that you are limited in what you can say & do, but if what you say can help serve a purpose, that would be fine with all of us.
    From a Madison County IL guy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Doing the work to learn blogging,good luck to you too!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Another step in the right direction. I am glad to see another form of communication. I may use something like this to get the word out about DARE in the state also. Thanks for sharing. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A quick way to learn.....look at other people's blogs and see what they're doing. At the top of your page is a link for Next Blog>>. That's a great place to start.

    ReplyDelete
  8. chief you are a straight shooter and should run for higher office! good luck to you. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Old Dogs are often the best dogs. I'm thinking I need to blog also. Go Chief!!

    ReplyDelete

I moderate comments submitted to this blog. I redact profanity, inane off-topic comments, bigoted garbage, personal attacks against others (self excluded), and anything else I feel like. I let a lot of stuff through that does not reflect my own opinion or that of the St. Louis County Police. If you post a comment, you never know where it will go: this is all open to the public, so post at your own risk.