Social Media Policy
Burleson County Sheriff's Office Social Media Content Posting and Operational Policy
Terms of Use
By posting or commenting on any social media platform used by the Burleson County Sheriff's Office, you participate by your own choice, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username, profile picture and any information you provide therein. By consuming, participating, viewing, and commenting, you further agree to the following terms of use:
The Burleson County Sheriff's Office maintains a social media program for the following purposes:
- Engage and interact with our community
- Provide relevant and timely community news
- Release information
- Advertise community events
- Distribute crime prevention and public safety tips
- Correct misinformation that is posted that affects public safety (whether accidental or intentional)
- Protect the brand and reputation of public safety department by sharing facts and statistics to allow community members to have broad awareness of situations and incidents
- Provide urgent notifications of critical incidents which may affect residents, business owners and visitors of the Burleson County
- Seek the public's help in identifying suspects and solve crimes - Showcase activities and work that public safety agencies provide to bolster community trust
- Educate the community on what public safety teams provide as far as services and programs.
Limited Public Forum
All social media platforms used by the Burleson County Sheriff's Office are designated as Limited Public Forums. The department welcomes a person's right to express their opinion and encourages posters to keep comments relevant to the topic in question. Posting of any content on any social media platform used or managed by the Burleson County Sheriff's Office, by any visitor, follower, subscriber or fan, constitutes acceptance of the terms of use described here in this policy.
For purposes of this policy, the term "social media" refers to a platform, website or mobile app that enables users to create and share content or participate in social networking with the Burleson County Sheriff's Office Public Safety agencies. The Burleson County Sheriff's Office social media networks consisting of Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube mobile apps.
Emergency or Non-Emergency Request s for Police Assistance
The posting of requests for police, fire, or animal assistance, regardless of the nature of emergency or non-emergency asks, is discouraged and will not guarantee a response by the Burleson County Sheriff's Office or any emergency service provider. Social media platforms are not monitored 24/7, therefore it is imperative that residents still contact the appropriate Burleson County Sheriff's Office agency through the telephone system or designated reporting system. In case of an emergency, or if police or fire assistance is needed, please dial 911. If you wish to report a crime or information relevant to a crime, please call 979-567-4343. You may remain anonymous if you request. In the event you post information related to a crime, you may be placing yourself in a position of becoming a witness and subject to being subpoenaed into court and contacted by detectives.
Endorsements
"Friending," "Liking," or Following the Burleson County Sheriff's Office or a Deputy or employee of any Burleson County Sheriff's Office Public, does not indicate an endorsement of that person's actions or comments. A comment posted by a member of the public on any Burleson County Sheriff's Office social media network is the opinion of the commentator or poster only, and publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the Burleson County Sheriff's Office, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Burleson County Sheriff's Office.
Moderation of Content
The Burleson County Sheriff's Office social media platforms are intended to be "family friendly." When applicable, any public safety department uses each platform's built-in monitoring and moderation systems to provide content moderation and filtering options to limit foul, indecent or obscene content. Burleson County Sheriff's Office also actively monitors all social media platforms used by the county, and will remove inappropriate content as defined below, without prior notice, and as soon as possible. The Sheriff's Office shall reserve the right to remove, hide and/or block anyone who posts inappropriate material as determined by the agency's social media content posting policy.
This material may include, but is not limited to:
- Non-topical comments, photos, memes, or other content unrelated to the original topic, including random or unintelligible comments;
- Profane, obscene, or pornographic content and/or language;
- Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, or national origin;
- Defamatory or personal attacks, including personal attacks directed at public officials, police officers, firefighters, or animal control officers;
- Threats to any person or organization;
- Comments in support of, or in opposition to, any political campaigns or ballot measures;
- Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising of any business or product for sale;
- Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law, including city ordinances;
- Encouragement of illegal activity;
- Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
- Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright, of any party;
- Harassment or content which constitutes and/or facilitates stalking;
- Content which violates the right to privacy;
- Encouragement of violence;
- Repetitive content continually posted on multiple Burleson County Sheriff's Office posts;
- Comments which may reasonably interfere with, inhibit, or compromise law enforcement investigations, police tactics, fire suppression, police responses to incidents and/or the safety of police or fire staff and officers;
- Posts or comments that contain any external links. Burleson County Sheriff's Office does not allow posting of photos or videos by anyone other than members of the public safety department.
Right to Post Static Content
The department reserves the right to post static content and turn off options for comments to protect the community and department from personal attacks, non-topical comments, spam commentary, harmful links, and other malicious content. The department does not engage in viewpoint discrimination since all comments would be prohibited, regardless of scope or content.
Viewpoint Discrimination
The Burleson County Sheriff's Office does not engage in viewpoint discrimination as long as posts, comments, and content adhere to this social media content posting policy. Social media posts that are created by a public safety agency may be removed by members responsible for strategic communications as long as a record of the original post is maintained.
Denial of Access
Burleson County Sheriff's Office reserves the right to deny access to any Burleson County Sheriff's Office social media sites for any individual, who violates the Burleson County Sheriff's Office social media Terms of Use, at any time and without prior notice. If you wish to contest the removal or hiding of your content, or your denial of access ("banned") from our social media platforms, you may do so by contacting us at 979-567-4343 and requesting to speak to the team lead overseeing the Strategic Communications Team.
Facebook's Community of Standards
All comments posted to any Burleson County Sheriff's Office Facebook site are bound by Facebook's Community Standards and Burleson County Sheriff's Office reserves the right to report any violation of Facebook's Community Standards to Facebook with the intent of Facebook taking appropriate and reasonable responsive action.
Instagram Community Guidelines
When applicable, Burleson County Sheriff's Office reserves the right to report any violation of the Instagram Community Guidelines, with the intent of Instagram taking appropriate and reasonable responsive action.
YouTube Community Guidelines
When applicable, Burleson County Sheriff's Office reserves the right to report any violation of the YouTube Community Guidelines with the intent of YouTube taking appropriate and reasonable responsive action.
Questions
Should you have any questions in regards to items contained herein this Terms of Use, please contact the Burleson County Sheriff's Office at 979-567-4343.
