The world is colorful and diverse - which is why we very much welcome the fact that social networks provide a platform for exchange and discussion. We look forward to engaging with you on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. On our pages, you can find the latest news about police operations and important information about crime and traffic.
Our social media teams are active for you on social media from Monday to Friday during the day. During this time, the social media team reads comments and messages and looks forward to interacting with you. Outside of these times, our social media channels are managed by the control center.
Important information
Always call 110 in urgent cases.
We ask you not to publish any information about criminal offenses or personal data on social networks. If you would like to report a crime or file a criminal complaint, please use our Internet Watch or go to the nearest police station. In appeals for witnesses or wanted notices, you will also always find the relevant police station with telephone contact details.
Our netiquette
For a constructive exchange on our social media channels, we have set ourselves values and rules of conduct. You can find our netiquette here.
Social networks ensure the reach and relevance of police topics
Change is the only constant in communication. Especially in social media, platforms often come and go very quickly: whereas Snapchat was the next hot thing yesterday, today it's Insta stories. The NRW police are facing up to this change so that they can also communicate their content in a target group-oriented way. The NRW police use social networks to reach more people than almost any other medium. Practically in real time. In addition, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and co. offer the opportunity to talk to people. This means that this communication channel is not a one-way street.
Equipped with a smartphone, anyone can become a live reporter at a shooting spree, demo or serious traffic accident. This changes the work of the press. And, of course, it also changes the public relations work of the police. Today, this work must above all be fast, transparent and reliable. On the other hand, activity in social media must be read like a seismograph for press and public relations work. What is happening right now? What is moving people? Is there an urgent need for action? In future, the police will find out more and more about this via social media. This development will make public relations work much more demanding.
One of the certainties of digitalization is: content is king. And the police have a lot of it. All 50 police authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia currently use social media. All authorities have a Facebook channel, almost all of them use Twitter. The first are already on Instagram. There are also central channels on YouTube, Xing and LinkedIn. WhatsApp is currently being tested to support applicants for the police profession who are in the application process. A Tiktok channel for the North Rhine-Westphalia police is also currently being tested. In total, the NRW police have over 120 social media channels.
The state editorial office for online police services has been part of the Ministry of the Interior since 2013. It coordinates internal and external public relations work on the police intranet, the internet and social media channels throughout the state.
