8 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: OCTOBER 2017 I f you use social media a lot, it’s probably a good idea to get familiar with how the technology works in order to prevent public rela- tions disasters like the one Alameda County Sheriff spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly is having. Kelly, like many older Americans, says he’s all thumbs when it comes to Twitter and he never meant to retweet a link to a video of white supremacist Rich- ard Spencer – twice. “I’m very embarrassed, I really am,” Kelly told reporters. “I’m not very savvy at this social media stuff.” According to an article from Berkeleyside: “An Al- ameda County sheriff’s office link on Twitter to a prominent white suprem- acist’s press conference night prompted concern and raised questions online about possible support by a sheriff’s office em- ployee for white nationalist ideas.” According to Kelly, the whole thing’s just a big mix up. Kelly said the contro- versy started when he was doing research in advance of a rally planned for late last August in Berkeley, California. The rally was expected to draw neo-nazis and scores of counter-protestors. Kelly said he was check- ing out a Periscope video post of a Richard Spencer press conference. Some- how Kelly says that led to a tweet to the event automatically being posted on the sheriff’s office ac- count. Frazzled, Kelly says he tried to delete the tweet but somehow wound up retweeting it. Many people who saw the tweet just figured the sheriff’s office was a fan of white supremacists. But Kelly says that’s not the case. He has no per- sonal Twitter account and does not use social media off-duty. Kelly says checking out social media is actually an intelligence gathering ex- ercise for police officers. “We are following what’s being said, some of the rhetoric that’s being said,” he told reporters. Several protests earlier this year in Berkeley made it clear how important it is to be informed about what could occur Aug. 27, Kelly added. “The last three, they were violent. There were acts of vandalism. And, after what’s happened in Charlottesville, this is an important issue that we are preparing for.” But that was lost on the people calling in to find out if the sheriff’s office was backing neo-nazis. To his credit, Kelly manned the phones for hours han- dling angry callers and trying to explain the nature of the mix up. “I can’t recall a time when the tension was so high,” he said. “Social media is a very powerful thing. It’s powerful when you make a mistake on it. I will make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Twitter disaster Getting familiar with the tech you’re using is a good idea – especially with Twitter. WE COMMIT to lead with innovation, to create products you can trust and to deliver confidence you can stand behind. Welcome to the Angel Armor family, Josh & JC Richardson Co-Founders, Angel Armor angelarmor.com