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Linda M. Tobias

Senior Communications Advisor
Linda Tobias is a writer and communications professional based in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. She has worked with the Metro Vancouver Transit Police (MVTP), Canada’s only police service dedicated to a public transit system, since 2017. Linda oversees MVTP’s sprawling digital footprint that includes 48 social media accounts across 8 platforms, part of an effort to meaningfully engage with the many diverse communities that MVTP serves. Thanks to the training and mentoring Linda provides to the department’s social media account holders, MVTP has seen several posts go viral and receive international media attention. Linda received an Inspector Commendation for her strategic use of social media following the shooting of an MVTP officer in 2019. Thanks to her efforts, key updates were shared in a timely manner, media requests were responded to, and misinformation was quickly corrected despite the overwhelming volume of related content being shared online. Before entering the world of policing, Linda worked as a freelance journalist and communications consultant. Much of her work was focused on developing and launching digital strategies for Canadian healthcare organizations.
11:00 - 12:00 Breakout Session

Monday 16th Sept

The Benefits of Giving Frontline Police Officers a Voice on Social Media

Metro Vancouver Transit Police (MVTP), with an authorized strength of only 186 police officers and 20 Community Safety Officers, has 48 social media accounts across 8 platforms. Most of these accounts are handled, not by the PIO or Executive team, but by officers at the sergeant rank or below. As a result of the small department’s large digital footprint, niche demographics are being reached, goodwill in the community is growing, and media attention has increased. Using MVTP as a case study, Linda Tobias will explore how empowering units and individual officers to have a branded presence on social media will humanize your department, build relationships with the marginalized groups/individuals, and increase employee morale. Linda will share how: employees are selected to manage a social media account, risk is mitigated, oversight is administered, internal support is solicited; and how to make the whole process manageable, even with limited resources.

3:00 - 3:50 PM General Session

Wednesday 18th Sept

Leveraging Reddit for Community Engagement and Media Attention

Metro Vancouver Transit Police (MVTP) is one of very few police agencies with a verified and trusted Reddit account. As a result, MVTP has a voice on a platform with 70 million active daily users. Seen as an authority and a trusted source of information related to transit safety on a platform where anonymity is valued, MVTP is able to engage with users who would otherwise avoid any interaction with police. Linda <span class="searchHighlight">Tobias</span> will provide an overview of Reddit and its unique culture, the content that resonates and is welcome by users, and how Reddit has allowed MVTP to get ahead of media stories and take control of the narrative before media even become aware of the story.