This document discusses how public safety organizations can incorporate alerts about threats shared on social media while respecting individuals' rights. It outlines the benefits of receiving alerts about threats identified through linguistic and behavioral analysis of public posts over traditional monitoring. The document also flags important issues like having clear operating procedures to define how the system can be used and overseen, as well as ensuring community transparency.

1. Alerts to Threats Shared Socially
Bringing the digital conversa5on into your safety opera5ons

2. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
Dr. Gary J. Margolis
• Founder & CEO, Social
Sen5nel, Inc.
• Co-Founder & Director,
Margolis Healy
• Former Police Chief,
University of Vermont
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3. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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Learning Objec5ves
• Understand the difference between monitoring social
media and receiving alerts to threats shared publicly;
• Iden5fy what you can do to balance public safety with
the rights of individuals to speak, gather, and protest;
and
• Flag the employee training and procedural issues your
Opera5ng Procedures must address when
incorpora5ng alerts to threats into your public safety
program

4. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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Consider This…
With respect to the digital
conversa5on, what is our campus
doing to balance the inherent
right of our community to a safe
environment with the rights and
expecta5ons of social media
users?

5. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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Social Listening Has Evolved

6. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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Why Monitoring DOESN’T Work
• It is inefficient
• Your team might employ inconsistent
search strategies or target individuals
• Do you have staff to sit in front of a
computer si_ing through posts?
• Does your community want to be
monitored? Under what circumstances?

7. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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Issues Raised by the ACLU
• Targe5ng and Surveilling individuals or groups (via
geo or hashtags)
• Inconsistent procedures and ac5ons
• U5lizing a service without documented Opera5ng
Procedures
• Lack of community transparency
• No plan or procedure for oversight

8. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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What DOES Work
• Targe5ng threats (via linguis5c and behavioral searches)
• Receiving alerts (cause is already established vs searching)
• Leveraging experts in behavioral linguis5cs
• Gefng beyond the geofence
• Community transparency
• Documented Opera5ng Procedures

9. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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Unique Features
• Local+™
Ability to ID locally relevant threats from global
content without targe5ng individuals
• Sen5nel Search™ Library
Leveraging refined keywords and behavioral key
phrases developed by safety and linguis5cs experts
• Educa5on and Safety Focus
We are campus safety and security experts

10. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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How it Works
Publicly available social media posts scanned for threats
RMap used to ID locally relevant content (Local+, Geotags,
previous trends and ac5ons, etc.)
End User follows exis5ng Opera5ng Procedures to assess and
address threat
Alert Central module sends alerts of imminent threat to
designated officials for review

11. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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12. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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QUESTIONS ABOUT
ALERTS?

13. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
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You Need Opera5ng Procedures!
• Define user roles and permissions at the USER level
• Specify how the system CAN and CAN’T be used
• Iden3fy a clear chain of command and implement an
oversight process
• Document boundaries placed around scans
• Align how you will handle alerts with your current
Opera5ng Procedures
• Perform and document annual training
• Document who is authorized to use the system

14. www.margolishealy.com
www.nccpsafety.org
info@nccpsafety.org
1.866.817.5817
www.bja.gov

15. The National Center for Campus Public Safety
SOCIAL SENTINEL, INC.
www.socialsentinel.com
802-861-1375
gmargolis@socialsentinel.com
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