Social media has been embraced by the police, as it is seen as a way for it to improve its image, particularly among young people.
Police forces are encouraged to use sites to "engage" with local communities, post updates about crimes as well as appeal for information and witnesses.
The majority of police forces have a main Twitter account, with many employing dedicated social media staff, whose job it is to maintain it.
Other Twitter accounts are maintained by local safer neighbourhood teams and specialist police departments, such as roads policing.
Guidance from the Association of Chief Police Officers tells officers that "the use of social media for private purposes during working time and from force systems should be in accordance with local force policies. The use of social media for such purposes during working time, and from personal mobile devices, is not recommended."
Police Scotland, which last month said it was reviewing its Twitter use after an insulting message was posted from an official account, follows Andy Murray and President Barack Obama. The force also apologised for the message, aimed at Toby Young, the Telegraph blogger, after he appeared on Newsnight.
Police in Solihull in the West Midlands follow Cricket Australia, which offers "all the latest breaking aussie cricket news as soon as it drops" as well as Danny Baker, the BBC broadcaster.
Leicestershire Police follows Coleen Rooney, wife of Wayne, the England footballer, and Miranda Hart.
Police in Lambeth, south London, followed Rihanna, Simon Cowell, Downton Abbey, Victoria's Secret, Christian Louboutin as well as Justin Bieber, the pop star until the account was the subject of a complaint from a mugging victim.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "Guidance is issued to police and staff authorised to use the MPS social media accounts and this includes following appropriate users on Twitter.
"When a problem is highlighted with the quality of a channel, as in this case, the users of that account are asked to review and make appropriate changes."
However other forces said they were happy to have their officers follow celebrities. One claims it had done so to gain their help with a police appeal, which they claimed was "very successful".
Gordon Scobbie, formerly the ACPO officer responsible for social media police, who is now a consultant on digital strategy, said: "I can understand following some politicians, celebrities with a cause, or perhaps local celebrities, but not Rhianna [the pop singer from Barbados] and Justin Bieber [the Canadian teenage singer] because they have got loads of followers and you want to follow them.
"I think there needs to be a better understanding of senior managers as to where does this fit into the overall strategy of what we are trying to do.
"Where forces I think are getting themselves into a bit of trouble is where they just go into it without thinking and letting a few people loose on it."
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, the current ACPO officer responsible for digital engagement, said: "Twitter is important for engagement and sometimes if you are trying to do specific things you may want people who have large followings, whether that is a celebrity or other otherwise, to re-tweet some of the messages so you are getting a better reach."
Staffordshire Police claimed they had followed celebrities to "deal with alleged offences against them" or encourage them to post police appeals. They did not explain why one of their accounts, for officers in Lichfield, followed Rebecca Addlington, the swimmer, and Katie Walsh, who was a finalist in the 2009 series of the BBC One programme, The Apprentice, Henry Winkler, the actor who was The Fonz, none of whom live in Lichfield, and a satire of Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader.
"Our Lichfield police account has followed a number of celebrities for reasons such as dealing with alleged offences against them, getting their support to reach hundreds of thousands of their followers with a police appeal, in one instance this was very successful, and because they live on the patch and are involved in the local community." a spokesman said.
West Midlands Police - which has more than 200 Twitter accounts, said the force followed "a wide range of accounts for a number of reasons", while Leicestershire police said it followed popular accounts to "increase the reach of our messages" and Police Scotland said it followed "relevant feeds" to "retweet engaging content".
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