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1 – 10 of over 17000Rick Ruddell and Nicholas Jones
This research aimed to explore the characteristics of respondents who accessed a municipal police service's webpage or social media (Facebook or Twitter). Perceptions about the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aimed to explore the characteristics of respondents who accessed a municipal police service's webpage or social media (Facebook or Twitter). Perceptions about the usefulness of social media in policing were solicited from the respondents.
Design/methodology/approach
Several survey items about social media were included in a study of trust and confidence in policing that was collected in two waves: a random telephone sample of 504 community residents and 314 university students.
Findings
One in five respondents had accessed the police service's webpage, while 6.9 percent had accessed their Twitter feed and 5.4 percent had viewed their Facebook site. Social media users tended to be younger and better educated while respondents over 65 years of age rarely accessed these tools. Younger respondents reported that computer‐based methods of communication were useful whether they had accessed these services or not. Older non‐users, by contrast, saw little future value in social media. Chi‐square analyses revealed that users of social media had more confidence in the police as well as greater overall satisfaction with the police.
Research limitations/implications
Participants were from a medium‐sized Canadian city and the results might not be generalizable to other populations.
Practical implications
Social media campaigns should be planned and target demographic groups likely to receive the intended message. Younger and better educated residents are the highest users of these services. Computer‐based media campaigns targeting senior citizens will likely be ineffective given their low participation in accessing social media and lack of interest in these methods of communication.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to examine the recipients of social media and their perceptions of the usefulness of computer‐based communication for law enforcement.
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Mengyan Dai, Wu He, Xin Tian, Ashley Giraldi and Feng Gu
American police departments are beginning to implement social media as a strategy to engage the surrounding communities through various methods, including Facebook and Twitter…
Abstract
Purpose
American police departments are beginning to implement social media as a strategy to engage the surrounding communities through various methods, including Facebook and Twitter. The purpose of this paper is to examine the varieties in the use of Facebook and Twitter by local police departments.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected all data between October 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014 from Facebook and Twitter accounts of seven city police departments in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. These agencies resemble many police departments in the USA, and in total serve a diverse population of approximately 1,435,000. Content analysis and statistical tests are conducted.
Findings
Results show that specific types of posts are more engaging for the community. Facebook and Twitter interactions vary depending upon the type of posts, demonstrating that citizens are using Facebook and Twitter to interact in different ways.
Research limitations/implications
The findings presented here give police agencies’ insight on how to appropriately adjust their use of social media to fulfill the needs of the citizens and optimize interactions with the community.
Originality/value
This is the first study to systematically examine and analyze the varieties in the use of social media by traditional American local police departments and their interactions with citizens.
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Xiaochen Hu and Nicholas P. Lovrich
Most police agencies in the USA make the claim that they use social media, and such use is drawing a great academic attention. Most studies on police use of social media focus on…
Abstract
Purpose
Most police agencies in the USA make the claim that they use social media, and such use is drawing a great academic attention. Most studies on police use of social media focus on the content of police social media websites. Little research, however, has been conducted regarding what types of police agencies are in fact making use of social media. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap in the knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The study reported here analyzes the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) data set to identify the principal organizational characteristics of police agencies associated with the use of social media. Binary logistic regression is used to identify significant independent predictors of police use of social media, viewed here as a form of innovation.
Findings
The findings indicate that the workforce size (commissioned and civilian personnel) of a police agency, the level of participation in multi-jurisdictional task forces and the early use of an official agency website to communicate with the public are the predictors of police use of social media.
Research limitations/implications
Three theories pertaining to organizational behavior (i.e. contingency theory, institutional theory, and resource dependency theory), as well as Maguire’s (2003) study, are used to establish the theoretical framework for the research reported here.
Originality/value
Viewed as a pioneering study testing organizational theories related to police use of social media, the current study sets forth findings that help deepen the collective understanding of contingency theory, institutional theory and resource dependency theory as frameworks for explaining organizational behavior in policing.
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Ashley Cartwright and Chloe Shaw
Social media is an integral part of modern society and is used by billions of people worldwide. In a policing context, police services are starting to use social media platforms…
Abstract
Purpose
Social media is an integral part of modern society and is used by billions of people worldwide. In a policing context, police services are starting to use social media platforms to interact with their communities. However, academic literature is lagging regarding the effectiveness of police use of social media. The purpose of this study is to gather public perceptions regarding the police’s use of social media particularly the use of Facebook.
Design/methodology/approach
The study administered a cross sectional survey recruiting participants who are policed by one of the larger police services in England and Wales. A total of 294 respondents completed the survey providing their views on their police service’s use of social media.
Findings
The results of the present study provide overwhelming support for the police’s use of social media by the public, with most respondents actively following their local police service’s social media accounts. The study additionally provides a number of important findings in relation to the preferences of the public with regards to their police service’s use of Facebook.
Practical implications
The findings presented here provide police services with an insight into how to implement an evidenced-based approach to their social media activity.
Originality/value
The present study takes an alternative approach to understanding the effectiveness of police social media use by simply asking residents, an approach not used in this area of policing research to date.
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Xiaochen Hu, Beidi Dong and Nicholas Lovrich
Previous studies consistently indicate that police agencies tend to use social media to assist in criminal investigations, to improve police-community relations and to broadcast…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies consistently indicate that police agencies tend to use social media to assist in criminal investigations, to improve police-community relations and to broadcast both crime- and non-crime-related tips promotive of public safety. To date, little research has examined what content the police tended to post on their social media sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
By selecting the 14 most widely attended police agencies' Facebook accounts, the current study collects and analyzes a sample of 2,477 police Facebook postings between February 1 and May 31, 2020. By using a mix-method approach, the study addresses three research questions: 1) What kinds of messages did the police tend to post on their Facebook pages before and during this pandemic? 2) What types of COVID-related police Facebook postings were made? 3) How did the public react to COVID-19-related police Facebook postings?
Findings
The findings suggest that the police have come to believe that social media can be used as an effective police−public communicative tool in stressful times. The findings also suggest that social media platforms have become a routinized tool of police−public communications which can, to some appreciable extent, substitute for the in-person contacts traditionally relied upon in community policing.
Originality/value
This study of police use of social media explores the question of whether the use of these media can serve as an effective tool to connect the police with the public under circumstances where in-person contacts are greatly constrained. Some public policy implications emerging from the findings reported are discussed, along with implications for further research along these lines.
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Kevin Walby and Crystal Gumieny
Police services, police associations and police foundations now engage in philanthropy and these efforts are communicated using social media. This paper examines social media…
Abstract
Purpose
Police services, police associations and police foundations now engage in philanthropy and these efforts are communicated using social media. This paper examines social media framing of the philanthropic and charitable work of police in Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from discourse and semiotic analyses, the authors examined the ways that police communications frame contributions to charity and community’s well-being. Tweets were analyzed for themes, hashtags and images that conveyed the philanthropic work of police services, police associations as well as police foundations.
Findings
The authors discovered four main forms of framing in these social media communications, focusing on community, diversity, youth and crime prevention. The authors argue that police used these communications as mechanisms to flaunt social capital and to boost perceptions of legitimacy and benevolence.
Research limitations/implications
More analyses are needed to examine such representations over time and in multiple jurisdictions.
Practical implications
Examining police communications about philanthropy not only reveals insights about the politics of giving but also the political use of social media by police.
Originality/value
Social media is used by organizations to position themselves in social networks. The increased use of social media by police, for promoting philanthropic work, is political in the sense that it aims to bolster a sense of legitimacy.
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Harald Hornmoen and Per Helge Måseide
The chapter addresses the question of how crisis and emergency communicators in the justice (police) and health sector in Norway reflect on their use – or lack of use – of social…
Abstract
The chapter addresses the question of how crisis and emergency communicators in the justice (police) and health sector in Norway reflect on their use – or lack of use – of social media during the terror crisis on 22 July 2011. We examine how these communicators in the years following the crisis have developed their use of social media to optimise their and the public’s awareness of similar crises. Our semi-structured interviews with key emergency managers and responders display how the terrorist-induced crisis in 2011 was a wake-up call for communicators in the police and the health sector. They reflect on the significance, strengths and weaknesses of social media in the management of crises such as this one.
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The ‘confidence agenda’ poses important new challenges for crime and disorder reduction partnerships in general and the police in particular. To date, the police have made only…
Abstract
The ‘confidence agenda’ poses important new challenges for crime and disorder reduction partnerships in general and the police in particular. To date, the police have made only limited use of new forms of social media and where they have been used, the police have yet to realise their full potential. New approaches are suggested that would increase their effectiveness. The challenge for the police will be to find a way to embrace the spirit of the new social media in such a way that the content that is developed is convincing and feels authentic to users.
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Police technology fundamentally shapes the police role, and the adoption of technology is even linked to the success of police reforms. Police adoption of emerging technological…
Abstract
Police technology fundamentally shapes the police role, and the adoption of technology is even linked to the success of police reforms. Police adoption of emerging technological tools changes the way police interact with citizens. The change in police citizen interactions can then have serious implications for the social control that police have over citizens, the civil liberties citizens enjoy, police accountability, and the legitimacy that the police hold in contemporary American society.
While technology impacts these critical issues in policing, not all technology adopted by the police is likely to influence their relationship with the public. As such, this chapter closely examines the ways that several emerging technologies adopted by the police (i.e., body-worn cameras (BWC), aerial surveillance, visual surveillance, social media, mapping and crime prediction, and less lethal force technology) impact issues related to social control, accountability, and legitimacy. The current literature seems to indicate that some innovations such as BWCs enhance police accountability and legitimacy, and also expand social control. Other technologies such as aerial surveillance and conducted energy devices increase social control, and display a complicated or unclear influence over police legitimacy.
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Ishmael Mugari and Caleb Muzinda
This study aims to evaluate social media’s role in facilitating criminal activities in Zimbabwe and determine how social media platforms have been embraced by the Zimbabwean police…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate social media’s role in facilitating criminal activities in Zimbabwe and determine how social media platforms have been embraced by the Zimbabwean police to curb criminal activities.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 72 participants from the Zimbabwean police and 5 non-police security experts were invited to participate in this study through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The study was confined to an urban policing area, which is policed by approximately 400 police officers.
Findings
The facilitation of violent protests was found to be the major threat that is posed by social media in Zimbabwe, with social media platforms playing a catalytic role in fuelling these violent protests. Social media is also playing a significant role in the spread of fake news, with the intention of causing fear and panic amongst citizens. Findings also reveal that the Zimbabwe police have embraced social media platforms for sharing crime prevention tips, receiving crime reports, engaging with citizens and gathering crime intelligence.
Originality/value
The study provides context-specific information on the threats posed by social media on a developing nation that has been characterised by a myriad of socio-economic challenges, as well as how these social media platforms have been embraced for crime prevention and control. Given limited empirical research on social media and national security in Zimbabwe, this study adds to the existing body of knowledge.
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