There’s a new guy sitting at the New Westminster Police Department’s media desk these days.
Acting Sgt. Jeff Scott took over the role of recruiter and media spokesperson from Sgt. Chad Johnston earlier this month, and has since been working on improving the police department’s visibility online and in social media circles.
“I’d never thought of recruiting or media relations as on my horizon, at least in this period, so when they told me I was pleasantly surprised,” Scott said.
Scott joined the New West police department in 2006 and has had many different roles since then, including patrol officer, Operational Support Unit (bike squad), Marine Unit, collision reconstruction and analysis, and traffic section.
“Then back to patrol for a year as a supervisor, and now I’ve moved into recruiting and media relations,” Scott told the Record.
Scott was offered the new gig during a recent promotions competition. Prior to this, he’d never figured himself much of a media guy, although he used to write a blog for the department based on his experiences as a patrol officer.
Despite the limited knowledge about media relations, Scott said he’s excited to dive right in. He’s already got plans to boost the department’s image within the community and online.
“There’s not a huge learning curve, it’s just learning what’s interesting to the public. One of the big things I learned from blogging, as the department’s blogger, was what is routine to us, is very interesting to the public at times,” he said.
Scott hopes that by boosting the department’s image, it’ll make it a more desirable option of employment for new recruits.
“So really giving the department a good impression on the community to make it attractive to new recruits to want to come and work,” he said. “I see the two roles, media relations and recruiting, going hand-in-hand.”
