Keeping the general public informed is just one of the responsibilities of being a Public Safety Information Officer (PIO). It is extremely important to have access to a tool that is not only quick, but also convenient and easy to use.
Just imagine the time it takes to handwrite on-scene incident information, go back to a PC at your office, and type an email to send to various media groups and contacts. To solve this problem, our team worked with Public Safety and created an easily accessible blotter for current incident information generated by a PIO.
Now the PIO just posts the incident information in the blotter and sends a link to the media groups in real-time. The blotter is updated automatically every 60 seconds in the event a PIO adds a new incident or updates a current incident. When an incident occurs, a "blot" can be created in the office or on-scene. The platform is mobile-friendly so it can be accessed on any device that uses a browser and has an internet connection.
The positive impact on the city and the Public Safety Information officers, in particular, is significant. The time that is saved by the PIO is incredible and not easily measured.
Check out the Public Safety Blotter in action!
Value Created by the Public Safety Media Blotter
- Reduced Stress
- Increased Convenience
- Reduced Cost
- Saved Time
How Has the Public Safety Media Blotter Impacted You?
The creation of the Public Safety blotter on the City of Pittsburgh website has become an essential communication tool for the Public Information Office.
Not only does it allow for the immediate dissemination of information to local, national, and international media and to the public, it also serves as an excellent historical reference library of sorts that can be updated and amended to reflect arrests, deaths or any other relevant information.
The blotter is also a necessary communication mechanism to reach those who do not have or do not choose to use social media.
- Cara Cruz, PIO, Department of Public Safety
It's allowed us to better focus on our mission of informing the public, it's created a clearly-defined space for us to release info about anything that happens in the city, it's reduced off-hours media inquiries (we used to get 5 or 6 calls on a single-car crash, but now we get none because everyone knows to check the Blotter), it's helped us grow our audience to the point where we don't have to rely on media's help getting our story out, and it's streamlined our efforts on scene at incidents. I can post from my phone, so often when I talk to reporters on scene, the information is already publicly available”
-Chris Togneri, PIO, Department of Public Safety
I like the Media Blotter. It has made the job easier for us in the PIO office. With the Media Blotter, there are less emails and phone call questions to answer. Media outlets and citizens can read what information we have at that time."
- Maurice Matthews II, Assistant PIO, Department of Public Safety
Keeping the general public informed is just one of the responsibilities of being a Public Safety Information Officer (PIO). It is extremely important to have access to a tool that is not only quick, but also convenient and easy to use.
Just imagine the time it takes to handwrite on-scene incident information, go back to a PC at your office, and type an email to send to various media groups and contacts. To solve this problem, our team worked with Public Safety and created an easily accessible blotter for current incident information generated by a PIO.
Now the PIO just posts the incident information in the blotter and sends a link to the media groups in real-time. The blotter is updated automatically every 60 seconds in the event a PIO adds a new incident or updates a current incident. When an incident occurs, a "blot" can be created in the office or on-scene. The platform is mobile-friendly so it can be accessed on any device that uses a browser and has an internet connection.
The positive impact on the city and the Public Safety Information officers, in particular, is significant. The time that is saved by the PIO is incredible and not easily measured.
Check out the Public Safety Blotter in action!
Value Created by the Public Safety Media Blotter
- Reduced Stress
- Increased Convenience
- Reduced Cost
- Saved Time
How Has the Public Safety Media Blotter Impacted You?
The creation of the Public Safety blotter on the City of Pittsburgh website has become an essential communication tool for the Public Information Office.
Not only does it allow for the immediate dissemination of information to local, national, and international media and to the public, it also serves as an excellent historical reference library of sorts that can be updated and amended to reflect arrests, deaths or any other relevant information.
The blotter is also a necessary communication mechanism to reach those who do not have or do not choose to use social media.
- Cara Cruz, PIO, Department of Public Safety
It's allowed us to better focus on our mission of informing the public, it's created a clearly-defined space for us to release info about anything that happens in the city, it's reduced off-hours media inquiries (we used to get 5 or 6 calls on a single-car crash, but now we get none because everyone knows to check the Blotter), it's helped us grow our audience to the point where we don't have to rely on media's help getting our story out, and it's streamlined our efforts on scene at incidents. I can post from my phone, so often when I talk to reporters on scene, the information is already publicly available”
-Chris Togneri, PIO, Department of Public Safety
I like the Media Blotter. It has made the job easier for us in the PIO office. With the Media Blotter, there are less emails and phone call questions to answer. Media outlets and citizens can read what information we have at that time."
- Maurice Matthews II, Assistant PIO, Department of Public Safety