After Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, the national police are launching this Thursday on TikTok. Sonia Fibleuil, spokesperson for the national police, returns for BFMTV.com on the challenges of this new account, dedicated to youth.
After Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, the national police are launching this Thursday on TikTok, popular social network among young people: 41% of French users are in fact in the 15-24 age group. The institution hopes to spread a positive message about the profession, while nearly one in two young people does not trust the police.
Sonia Fibleuil, divisional commissioner and spokesperson for the national police, returns for BFMTV.com on the stakes of this new account.
TikTok is – originally – a social network whose interest is to share videos or challenges in music. Is this the place of the national police?
The place of the police is to be at the heart of society. The police adapt to the vectors of our society. Currently, it is undeniably social networks, especially among young people. We need to keep in touch with them.
The situation is similar to that of parents with their children: there may be conflicts of authority, but contact must be kept at all costs. With this account we want to touch the hearts of the youth by showing them the police with a side step, a different angle.
What content will the national police share on this new account?
A community manager and a videographer will work exclusively on this account, in order to offer short videos of 10 to 15 seconds which illustrate, in immersion, the diversity of our professions, our missions, our routine, with a playful and creative side.
It will be possible to follow a national police biker, a mountain CRS skier or the routine of a CRS lifeguard… Anything we can show in the constrained format of TikTok, we will.
We will also challenge young people by offering them a challenge to co-create videos. On a given theme, young people will send us videos and it will then be possible to make a joint production.
Beyond the fun side, is this account a new prevention tool?
The videos will not be judgmental because this is not the editorial line of the application. But in an offbeat and positive way, this account will also make it possible to disseminate prevention messages on issues that specifically affect young people, such as, for example, binge drinking.
Is this a way to recreate the link between the police and the youth?
We want young people to discover our world and share a message that they are not used to seeing on social networks. This account will serve as a reminder of our motto ‘Protect, the most beautiful of trades’, often obscured by the image conveyed in particular in the media.
It is true that this part of the population is one of the most affected by the messages of our detractors. This new project responds in part to this problem, although it is not the alpha and omega of the solution. Finally, the interest is also to make them want to join us. We are in the midst of a recruitment campaign and young people are our core target.
Security issues will be one of the major challenges of the next elections. Is this one of the reasons why the national police force is developing so much on social networks?
There is no correlation. We provide technical expertise, honoring the women and men of the institution. We are in the explanation, the decryption of our missions, while sometimes our platform is limited, even inaudible. We don’t play politics, we just have to be at the heart of the people.
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