Members of the Metropolitan Police (in jolly old London, England) are cranked at the organization's new blogging rules -- but are the rules so bad, and does the Met have interests to protect? Alternatively, is there some benefit in having experienced officers popping off?
Some excerpts from the BBC story:
... The new Metropolitan Police rules on weblogs written by serving officers have lead several bloggers to follow the World Weary Detective's lead and stop writing.
The move has also generated a good deal of anger in Britain's police blogging community.
One blogger, Cough the Lot, says: "Hypocrisy is the word I think. In the police we are constantly reminded of diversity and human rights and yet here are individuals being punished for penning the way it actually is."
Recently the organisation has become aware of a series of web-logs or blogs where authors - claiming to be police officers - have offered their views on a number of issues
Met PoliceAlthough they declined an interview request, in an e-mailed response to a BBC inquiry, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police stressed that it has not banned blogging.
But the strong wording of the new rules has worried bloggers.
"Recently the organisation has become aware of a series of weblogs or blogs where authors - claiming to be police officers - have offered their views on a number of issues in a highly personalised, often controversial manner," the guidance begins.
'Damaging the organisation'
It then goes on to list a number of conditions for Metropolitan Police bloggers, including a ban on "expressing views and opinions that are damaging to the organisation or bring the organisation into disrepute".
The situation highlights the thorny issue of workplace blogging.
Some organisations prohibit staff from blogging about their work altogether while others, like the Metropolitan Police, offer guidelines to staff who blog.
Organisations are often fearful of the harm to their public image critical blog posts can represent.
But for some police bloggers the window into the world of police work provided by their writing, is something to be encouraged, provided operational security is not compromised.
Speaking anonymously to BBC Radio Five Live's Brian Hayes programme, one blogger said: "Blogs are proving to be a way the police are connecting with the public in a far more effective way than the official police media services ever could."
That's a view echoed by another blogger, Bow Street Runner, who writes on his weblog: "These blogs reveal what actually goes on behind the glossy, PR-friendly corporate image put across by most forces, and threatens to actually inform the public as to what police officers do."
