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1 – 10 of over 50000Samuel Walker and Betsy Wright Kreisel
Citizen review of complaints against police officers is an important new aspect of policing which takes many different forms. Explains the reasons leading to the usage of this…
Abstract
Citizen review of complaints against police officers is an important new aspect of policing which takes many different forms. Explains the reasons leading to the usage of this term in preference to similar terms. Analyzes official documents related to the 65 citizen review (CR) procedures currently in force in the USA. Highlights the problematic relationship between the goals of CR and administrative features. Finds that existing procedures do not always guarantee an independent review of complaints. Suggests additional research on procedures, more critical assessment of the assumptions underlying CR, and rigorous comparative evaluations of complaint review systems, also of the relationship between CR and other innovations such as community policing.
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Joseph De Angelis and Aaron Kupchik
The purpose of this paper is to examine data from a survey of police officers in a Western US city, showing the factors that shape police officers' satisfaction with their city's…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine data from a survey of police officers in a Western US city, showing the factors that shape police officers' satisfaction with their city's system for investigating and resolving citizen complaints alleging officer misconduct. Specifically, it tests whether perceptions of legitimate authority and procedural justice influence overall satisfaction, and how these two theoretical perspectives fare relative to a distributive justice perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses anonymous mailed surveys to examine the attitudes of a sample of 373 police officer respondents from one large urban police department.
Findings
The findings support the importance of both procedural justice and perceived legitimacy by finding that both perspectives shape officers' satisfaction more than the actual outcomes reached on their cases. Attitudes toward oversight were not found to be related to satisfaction with the complaint process.
Research limitations/implications
This paper focuses on only one city and has a relatively small number of respondents.
Originality/value
In this paper the analyses expand these theoretical perspectives by applying them to a unique and important group, the police themselves, whose attitude toward citizen complaints and police accountability has been largely neglected by the prior research.
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Citizen participation in budgeting is often achieved by compliance with legal statutes on public hearing requirements. These pragmatic and legalistically-based approaches to…
Abstract
Citizen participation in budgeting is often achieved by compliance with legal statutes on public hearing requirements. These pragmatic and legalistically-based approaches to citizen participation are examined, and the potential for creating participation that realizes more than meeting legal requirements is discussed. The author suggests that recommendations from recent work on citizen participation and governance can be used as standards for evaluating and improving citizen participation in budgeting, and applies these suggestions to a case example in city government finance.
Aimee Franklin and Carol Ebdon
Citizen participation in local government processes is touted as an effective means to enhance responsiveness and accountability. The topic has received considerable attention in…
Abstract
Citizen participation in local government processes is touted as an effective means to enhance responsiveness and accountability. The topic has received considerable attention in the normative literature, yet there is persistent evidence that citizen participation occurs infrequently and has little influence on decision making. This study compares the perspectives of three different groups of stakeholders: elected officials, administrators, and citizens. Examination of the perspectives of these three groups of actors is important because it provides insight into the relationships between the groups and expectations regarding how input is used and how it influences decisions. Attention to these items can make participation more valuable and can inform other governments as they ponder how to align the priorities of different actors in their budgeting processes.
Gerald J. Miller and Lyn Evers
This paper reviews the literature concerning when and in what way citizen participation can have an impact on budgeting. The first part of the paper conceptualizes, through the…
Abstract
This paper reviews the literature concerning when and in what way citizen participation can have an impact on budgeting. The first part of the paper conceptualizes, through the literature, five budgeting models, each having both problems and solutions for citizen involvement. The second section of the paper explores intervention designs that can be constructive in dealing with the larger problems connecting budgeting and citizen participation. The paper, therefore, seeks to determine where participation in budgeting can have an impact on citizen anger, estrangement, distrust and pessimism.
Ussama Yaqub, Tauqeer Saleem and Salma Zaman
The purpose of this paper is to explore the reaction of Pakistani citizens toward online privacy in the context of the Pakistan Government's COVID-19 app privacy breach.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the reaction of Pakistani citizens toward online privacy in the context of the Pakistan Government's COVID-19 app privacy breach.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors implemented supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods, that is, topic modeling and sentiment analysis on Google app store user review data.
Findings
There was no visible concern shown by the citizens toward the COVID-19 app privacy breach, even though it was well highlighted in the news. Other studies have also indicated that concern for online privacy remains low in developing countries, which aligns with the findings of this paper.
Originality/value
Globally COVID-19 apps have been a cause of concern in terms of public privacy. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first in the Pakistani context to show the impact of a well-document privacy breach of a government COVID-19 app.
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Alessandro Minelli and Renato Ruffini
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the feedback discourse by exploring how public managers and politicians use complaints from citizens to improve the overall and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the feedback discourse by exploring how public managers and politicians use complaints from citizens to improve the overall and specific performance of public services. The main research questions are: Can citizen complaints analysis be a useful planning tool in the public sector? What can public managers learn from citizen feedback?
Design/methodology/approach
Applying an empirical approach (Yin, 2005), the multiple case studies treated in the paper aim to clarify a series of decisions (particularly, why feedback is not used to its maximum potential). The overall design includes a defined set of questions, and the research protocol includes data retrieval, collection and analysis. A new cataloging model is proposed to homogenize the spectrum of analysis. This model is intended to create a parallel between two local bodies different in size, mission, and complexity, but which have front office facilities and are in the same territory and have the same potential target population.
Findings
In total, 698 complaints and 183 corrective or preventive actions were analyzed. Public managers’ attention seems to focus on technical or normative issues rather than on aspects of public services. This may be explained by the lack of funds for training, the scarce use of relational and human capital development leverage, and the concomitant necessity to guarantee at least the same level of services as provided in previous years, confirming the “Blame the rich and credit the poor” mantra.
Originality/value
This paper offers a strategic approach to learning from citizen’s feedback that other scholars or practitioners have not yet provided. There are many academic studies on customer feedback as a continuous improvement tool for the private sector, but few for public administration.
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Melchor C. de Guzman and James Frank
Determining the impact of civilian review board on the police is a challenging process. The task is complicated due to the absence of baseline data that will account for observed…
Abstract
Determining the impact of civilian review board on the police is a challenging process. The task is complicated due to the absence of baseline data that will account for observed changes in citizen complaints, especially if the concept is a novelty in a particular jurisdiction. Likewise, using traditional measures of impact such as the number of complaints or conviction rates is problematic due to a variety of confounding factors. This study examines the perceptions of complainants and officers concerning the impact of civilian review boards. Using data collected through surveys of police officers and complainants in a metropolitan area in the Philippines, the study focuses on “learning” as a viable construct to measure the impact of civilian review boards and the perceived deterrent effects of these boards. The research found that civilian review boards have a significant impact on police officer perceptions as well as on the police department. The study also shows that learning may be a viable measure for studying the impact of civilian review boards.
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This paper examines the role of citizen budget advisory committees in local government to gain a better understanding of what exists, what works, and what does not. Specifically…
Abstract
This paper examines the role of citizen budget advisory committees in local government to gain a better understanding of what exists, what works, and what does not. Specifically this paper seeks to answer the following questions: How are citizen advisory committees utilized? What influence do citizen advisory committees have on the planning and decision making process of local governments? What variables influence the effectiveness of citizen advisory committees? What obstacles prevent meaningful citizen participation from taking place? Through a better understanding of what makes some committees more effective than others, recommendations can be made that will improve the effectiveness of this type of citizen participation.