National Forensic Science Week (NFSW) is a great opportunity to engage the communities you serve to educate them on your organization’s role within the criminal justice system and highlight the importance of forensic science. There are many ways to achieve public exposure that include but are not limited to:
1) Social Media
2) Tours
3) Presentations/In Person Events
4) Citizen Academies
**Using a combination of the above will provide the most effective levels of engagement.
Social Media
Establish accounts for your organization if you have not already done so. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are very popular platforms. Leading up to and during NFSW, start posting about your organization and the services it provides and how forensic science is utilized. Be sure to include #ForensicScienceWeek in all posts. This is the official topic that we would love to get trending. Suggestions for posts would include:
1) Highlight personnel within your organization
2) Focus on a specific discipline
3) Successes in the past year
4) Short videos on various topics can increase connection with your community
5) Future projects and needs
6) Return on investment highlights
Posts should include photos, videos, audio recordings, charts, or graphs in addition to text to best capture attention.
Be sure to not only post for informational purposes but also foster discussion and feedback. Consider posting once a day in the 2 weeks leading up to NFSW and then several times each day during NFSW.
Tours
Schedule tours of your facility for the public during NSFW. You can also engage high profile government officials in your area to participate with the public on these tours. Be sure to get the word out well in advance to generate interest. Consider doing a few throughout the week during specified times where ongoing operations are not severely impacted.
Engaging with the public on these tours provides an opportunity to inform them on the importance of forensic science and the resources required to provide the services required of your organization.
In-Person Events and Presentations
Presentations and events held outside your organization allows for more interaction within the communities you serve. Logical places may be at stakeholder agencies, government offices, libraries, community centers, parks, etc. Be sure to publicize the event well in advance and invite high profile government officials.
Some ideas for event/presentation topics:
Scavenger hunt for clues to solve a case
- Forensic successes by your organization that impacted the community
- General information about your organization
- Forensic Science: Fact vs. Fiction
- Reporting agency statistics and protocols (e.g., emergency department, local and state-level data collection agencies)
- Mock scenes or trials
- Missing Persons/Unidentified Decedent (UID) DNA collection
- Community NarCan distribution in overdose hotspots
- Death certification
Citizen Academies
Many organizations have citizen academies where forensic science can be incorporated as an important element. Special topics could be added to citizen academies for NFSW.