Most police services also have rules on blogging activities that might bring the organisation into disrepute.
It is usual for police bloggers to adopt a pseudonym, such as PC David Copperfield.
He is believed to have created the first UK blog of its type, extracts from which were published in the book Wasting Police Time.
Subsequently, a further book, Diary of An On Call Girl has been published, based on the blog of PC Ellie Bloggs, and the book Perverting the Course of Justice based on the blog of Inspector Gadget.
Recently, several police forces have been using new media channels to reach the public.