New rules for posting on social media are coming into force for North Yorkshire Police officers this week.
Officers will now post through a series of official force Twitter accounts which have been set up, rather than their own personal accounts, some of which have attracted thousands of followers in recent years.
This will affect popular accounts of officers in the Harrogate district, including Sergeant Paul Cording (@OscarRomeo1268 on Twitter) and PC David Minto (@TC174_NYP on Twitter).
The new official force account for news and information from the Harrogate district will be @NYP_Harrogate
The force say the change will make it easier to see the ‘fantastic social media content’ from their officers and staff across fewer accounts.
➡️Our social media accounts
You may notice we're making some changes to our force social media accounts. This will make it easier to find out what's happening in your area, plus they will enable us to respond to the issues that matter to you more quickly & effectively. 1/4
— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) March 29, 2021
But not everyone is happy, with some preferring the current system of officers posting updates from their own personal accounts…
From 1st April in what looks to become a PR disaster @NYorksPolice chiefs have told all officers to close individual Social media accounts in a “new corporate and more district based approach to all social media accounts.” These will be run by the force. @MikePannett 🤦🏻♂️
— Malik Walton (@Cameramal) March 29, 2021
Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here