03/09/2025
Public Entity Risk Control News Topic #1
Social Media in Local Government: A Balancing Act for Your Public Entity
Social media can be both a boon and a bust for governmental entities. While it enhances the availability of communication and transparency, it also creates a trap for the unwary when it comes to First Amendment issues. Citizens do not give up their First Amendment rights to speak on matters of public concern by accepting employment from the government. Governments, like private employers, necessarily have the right to control their employees’ words and deeds in order to run effectively and efficiently. Understanding the balance between these two principles is the key to establishing effective policies and avoiding traps that often lead to litigation.
Is Your Public Entity Employee Speaking as a Private Citizen?
The key to unlocking this balance is first determining whether an employee is speaking as a private citizen or a governmental employee. As the case of Lindke v. Freed, 601 U.S. 187 (2024), points out, governmental entity employees’ personal social media accounts can become public forums when the employee has the authority to speak for the entity and purports to do so on their personal accounts. To reduce confusion about whether a post is official or personal, set up a policy that specifically dictates who has the authority to speak officially on behalf of the entity, on what topics, and where the posts will be made. This benefits not only the entity but also the employee who use their own social media accounts to comment on public issues by creating a presumption that the posts are personal and not official government business.
Of course, if the employee is speaking as a governmental employee, the employer has a right to control what is said and implement discipline if necessary. If the employee is speaking as a private citizen on a matter of concern for the employee’s governmental employer, there can be some limitations. If the post interferes with the efficient and effective operation of the government as an employer, appropriate discipline can be taken without violating the First Amendment. Setting up policies with these competing interests in mind can help both government employers and employees stay within the margins. Be wary of setting the policy too restrictive; it may run afoul of the rights of the employee as a citizen. Set up guideposts by determining and articulating what actions and posts can fairly be said to interfere with the effectiveness of government operations
Want more information? Check out our resource on Social Media and Government Officials’ Accounts.
Public Entity Risk Control News Topic #2
Distracted Driving and How to Help Your Public Entity Employees
America’s roads are more dangerous to travel on than ever. The leading cause of vehicle-related accidents and fatalities is distracted driving. The number of accidents caused by distracted driving continues to increase despite the increased safety features in vehicles and fewer vehicles being on the road. As we know, undivided attention while driving is a must, but getting drivers to adhere to this practice is a challenge.
NHTSA has recently issued a projection that an estimated 18,720 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes during the first half of 2024. This is down 3.2% from the prior year; however, these numbers are still alarming. Surprisingly, metropolitan roads have fewer fatalities per miles driven than rural roads.
Why is this happening?
There are many speculations as to the causes:
- The pandemic altered traffic patterns
- People are not driving as regularly
- People are stressed
- People have gotten addicted to constant interaction with their phones
- Workplace driver training has not been provided consistently, along with other factors.
What can we do about this? Change our behaviors. Be conscious about your choices while driving. These things cost nothing.
Training and reminders are the top things that can help us stay on track.
Defensive driver training provides a good foundation and refresher for drivers. Distracted driver training helps provide awareness and information about driver behaviors that will help make drivers better at handling driving responsibilities. Providing them together is a great way to link supportive education. During training, ask trainees to share the training tips they learned that day with their families and friends, particularly with new drivers and those who are learning. Teaching others this information increases knowledge and retention, so it will help solidify this material in drivers’ minds.
Provide annual defensive and distracted driver training for employees, whether through virtual webinars, online courses, or classroom training. While instructor-led classroom training is usually viewed as the most effective in terms of information retention, virtual and web-based training are great options. Reminders and signage (particularly in advance of hazardous intersections) are also helpful.
Team Effort
Develop a committee of community members and employees to innovate and implement campaigns to address driving issues using emails, websites, media, social media, and other outlets. This is good both for employees and for the citizens in the community because we share the roads together. We need to help each other make the roads safer for all users.
Want more information? Check out our resource on Distracted Driving.
Public Entity Risk Control News Topic #3
Trident University: Free Online Training for Your Public Entity Employees
Our online training platform, Trident University, continues to see increased usage year over year. In fact, we’ve broken usage records over the last four consecutive years. We’re finding that local governments are using the platform to be compliant with various mandated training requirements, particularly Sexual Harassment and Workplace Violence training. With over a thousand courses, Trident U offers a wide variety of training opportunities ranging from mandated training to workplace safety to driving safety and so much more.
Did you know that Trident University also includes courses from Lexipol’s Police1 and Rescue1 Academies? Several police departments have tuned into the platform to provide courses that are now required through various state police reform efforts. Racial Profiling, Responding to People with Mental Illness and Anti-Bias training lead the way in terms of public safety department participation. The classroom portions of various Emergency Vehicle Operation Courses (EVOC) are also available and widely used.
The benefits of online training are that it is cost-effective, easy to use, and allows entities to squeeze in required training with flexibility. Learn how Trident can provide your entity with free access to this program.
Want even more resources? Check out Trident’s full selection of resources for your public entity here.
