“How the Prosecutor of Dieppe Uses Twitter to Communicate About Their Work”

“We have the feeling of doing a lot of things but which are not necessarily recognized”, admits the district AttorneyEtienne Thieffry, at Court of Dieppe (Seine-Maritime).

On the recommendation of Ministry of Justicemagistrates and prosecutors were invited to communicate more about their actions with the population, through the social networks.

It was in October 2022 that Étienne Thieffry decided to take the leap, by opening a twitter account : @ProcureurDieppe. “I preferred to take the time before getting started, knowing that the goal is to regularly feed this account”, he informs.

Talking about the devices, raising awareness…

But why Twitter and not another social network? “On Twitter, there are nearly a hundred prosecutors or court presidents who have an account. The jurisdiction uses Facebook little, it is less recognized as an institutional communication tool, while Twitter or LinkedIn, it is more professional. »

The one who represents the public prosecutor admits having thought about being present on “Snapchat or TikTok, but I do not master these tools enough, it takes time and it takes some communication in line with our jurisdiction”.

With this account, Étienne Thieffry can thus show the work carried out at the local level. And this work is carried out with partners: police, hospitals, departments, victim support associations, mayors, etc.

He illustrates this on Twitter by informing about devices such as the anti-reconciliation bracelet, the high-danger telephone; by monthly reports on the activity of the public prosecutor’s office; it presents various professions in the penal chain, or even evokes the setting up of partnerships to fight against certain offences, such as domestic violence.

Some cases are also mentioned in an attempt to dissuade the population.
And to communicate, a lot of work is carried out internally, alongside its project manager and other magistrates. Reflections around the content of the tweet, the way to disseminate information … this, in a purely educational interest.

“We don’t work above ground in our ivory tower. Magistrates are not paper pushers, ”insists the prosecutor.

Étienne Thieffry is happy with the few feedbacks that have been given to him. He tries to publish one tweet per week that may be of interest to the population, without forgetting a few tweets sticking to the news or within the framework of opportunities.

And concerning the comments on the social networks of the press articles, he invites the inhabitants to come to the court to better understand how the defendants are judged.

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