Review of emerging technologies in policing: findings and recommendations

Appendix 2: Lists of References and Abstracts of Document Selected for Inclusion

Part A: List of Abstracts Selected for Inclusion in Final Pool of Academic Research Articles

Abbas, N. & Policek, N. (2021) ‘Don’t be the same, be better’: an exploratory study on police mobile technology resistance, Police Practice and Research, 22, 1, 849-868, DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2020.1728271.

Abstract

Purpose: This contribution stems from the acknowledgment that the post-adoptive officers' behaviour and utilisation of the mobile technology has not yet been examined. Between 2008 - 2010, the Home Office funded the Mobile Information Programme to increase the visibility of police officers and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Police Service. This programme had enabled the roll-out of 41,000 mobile devices to police officers, allowing them to spend a greater percentage of their working time out of police stations. Yet, in 2012, the NPIA's evaluation of the increase in police officers' visibility showed that on average, officers spent around 18 minutes extra per shift out of the station using mobile devices. Methodology: To overcome the paucity of available data, a pilot study adopting a multi-method approach was conducted in a medium-sized constabulary in the UK. Data collection methods included focus groups, Q cards methodology and an online survey. Findings: This study sheds light on officers' main reasons for post-adoptive resistance to using the mobile devices and its impact on the quality of police data recorded. Furthermore, it delineates innovative ways of enhancing police mobile technology training to boost technology adoption in police forces.

Aizenberg, E., & van den Hoven, J. (2020). Designing for human rights in AI. Big Data & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951720949566

Abstract

In the age of Big Data, companies and governments are increasingly using algorithms to inform hiring decisions, employee management, policing, credit scoring, insurance pricing, and many more aspects of our lives. Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can help us make evidence-driven, efficient decisions, but can also confront us with unjustified, discriminatory decisions wrongly assumed to be accurate because they are made automatically and quantitatively. It is becoming evident that these technological developments are consequential to people’s fundamental human rights. Despite increasing attention to these urgent challenges in recent years, technical solutions to these complex socio-ethical problems are often developed without empirical study of societal context and the critical input of societal stakeholders who are impacted by the technology. On the other hand, calls for more ethically and socially aware AI often fail to provide answers for how to proceed beyond stressing the importance of transparency, explainability, and fairness. Bridging these socio-technical gaps and the deep divide between abstract value language and design requirements is essential to facilitate nuanced, context-dependent design choices that will support moral and social values. In this paper, we bridge this divide through the framework of Design for Values, drawing on methodologies of Value Sensitive Design and Participatory Design to present a roadmap for proactively engaging societal stakeholders to translate fundamental human rights into context-dependent design requirements through a structured, inclusive, and transparent process.

Alikhademi, K., Drobina, E., Prioleau, D. et al. (2022), A review of predictive policing from the perspective of fairness. Artificial Intelligence Law, 30, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10506-021-09286-4

Abstract

Machine Learning has become a popular tool in a variety of applications in criminal justice, including sentencing and policing. Media has brought attention to the possibility of predictive policing systems causing disparate impacts and exacerbating social injustices. However, there is little academic research on the importance of fairness in machine learning applications in policing. Although prior research has shown that machine learning models can handle some tasks efficiently, they are susceptible to replicating systemic bias of previous human decision-makers. While there is much research on fair machine learning in general, there is a need to investigate fair machine learning techniques as they pertain to the predictive policing. Therefore, we evaluate the existing publications in the field of fairness in machine learning and predictive policing to arrive at a set of standards for fair predictive policing. We also review the evaluations of ML applications in the area of criminal justice and potential techniques to improve these technologies going forward. We urge that the growing literature on fairness in ML be brought into conversation with the legal and social science concerns being raised about predictive policing. Lastly, in any area, including predictive policing, the pros and cons of the technology need to be evaluated holistically to determine whether and how the technology should be used in policing.

4. Almeida, D., Shmarko, K., and Lomas, E. (2021). The ethics of facial recognition technologies, surveillance, and accountability in an age of artificial intelligence: a comparative analysis of US, EU, and UK regulatory frameworks. AI Ethics, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-021-00077-w

Abstract

The rapid development of facial recognition technologies (FRT) has led to complex ethical choices in terms of balancing individual privacy rights versus delivering societal safety. Within this space, increasingly commonplace use of these technologies by law enforcement agencies has presented a particular lens for probing this complex landscape, its application, and the acceptable extent of citizen surveillance. This analysis focuses on the regulatory contexts and recent case law in the United States (USA), United Kingdom (UK), and European Union (EU) in terms of the use and misuse of FRT by law enforcement agencies. In the case of the USA, it is one of the main global regions in which the technology is being rapidly evolved, and yet, it has a patchwork of legislation with less emphasis on data protection and privacy. Within the context of the EU and the UK, there has been a critical focus on the development of accountability requirements particularly when considered in the context of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the legal focus on Privacy by Design (PbD). However, globally, there is no standardised human rights framework and regulatory requirements that can be easily applied to FRT rollout. This article contains a discursive discussion considering the complexity of the ethical and regulatory dimensions at play in these spaces including considering data protection and human rights frameworks. It concludes that data protection impact assessments (DPIA) and human rights impact assessments together with greater transparency, regulation, audit and explanation of FRT use, and application in individual contexts would improve FRT deployments. In addition, it sets out ten critical questions which it suggests need to be answered for the successful development and deployment of FRT and AI more broadly. It is suggested that these should be answered by lawmakers, policy makers, AI developers, and adopters.

Anania, E. C., Rice, S., Pierce, M., Winter, S. R., Capps, J., Walters, N. W., and Milner, M. N. (2019). Public support for police drone missions depends on political affiliation and neighborhood demographics, Technology in Society, 57, 95-103, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.12.007.

Abstract

Background: As unmanned aerial systems (UAS) become more common, it is important to understand public opinion and support for these UAS. The current research attempts to investigate support for law enforcement usage of UAS, and the factors affecting this support.

Methods: A three-study mixed methods approach was taken. In the first study, participants responded to questions asking their level of support for police UAS usage in neighborhoods with varying racial compositions, as well as answering free response questions related to the scenario. The second and third study investigated support for police UAS usage, and whether or not this was influenced by participants' political affiliation.

Results: Study one indicated that participants displayed significantly more support for law enforcement's use of UAS when flying over a predominately African-American neighborhood than when flying over a primarily Caucasian neighborhood. Study two furthered these results by finding that those identifying as liberal showed less support for law enforcement UAS use and expressed higher levels of privacy concerns than those identifying as conservative. Study three further investigated political affiliation using the Nolan Chart survey, finding that libertarians, liberals, conservatives, and authoritarians had differing levels of support and privacy concerns.

Conclusions: This research adds to a foundation of understanding consumer acceptance and support for law enforcement UAS usage. As this practice becomes more common, it is important to understand support, as individual perceptions will likely influence actions. This work has numerous practical applications for policy and design.

Ariel, B., Farrar, W.A. & Sutherland, A. (2015). The Effect of Police Body-Worn Cameras on Use of Force and Citizens’ Complaints Against the Police: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Quant Criminol 31, 509–535. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-014-9236-3

Abstract

Police use-of-force continues to be a major source of international concern, inviting interest from academics and practitioners alike. Whether justified or unnecessary/excessive, the exercise of power by the police can potentially tarnish their relationship with the community. Police misconduct can translate into complaints against the police, which carry large economic and social costs. The question we try to answer is: do body-worn-cameras reduce the prevalence of use-of-force and/or citizens' complaints against the police? We empirically tested the use of body-worn-cameras by measuring the effect of videotaping police-public encounters on incidents of police use-of-force and complaints, in randomized-controlled settings. Over 12 months, we randomly assigned officers to "experimental-shifts" during which they were equipped with body-worn HD cameras that recorded all contacts with the public and to "control-shifts" without the cameras (n = 988). We nominally defined use-of-force, both unnecessary/excessive and reasonable, as a non-desirable response in police-public encounters. We estimate the causal effect of the use of body-worn-videos on the two outcome variables using both between-group differences using a Poisson regression model as well as before-after estimates using interrupted time-series analyses. We found that the likelihood of force being used in control conditions were roughly twice those in experimental conditions. Similarly, a pre/post analysis of use-of-force and complaints data also support this result: the number of complaints filed against officers dropped from 0.7 complaints per 1,000 contacts to 0.07 per 1,000 contacts. We discuss the findings in terms of theory, research methods, policy and future avenues of research on body-worn-videos.

Asaro, P. (2019). AI Ethics in Predictive Policing: From Models of Threat to an Ethics of Care, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 38, 2, 40-53, June 2019, doi: 10.1109/MTS.2019.2915154

Abstract:

The adoption of data-driven organizational management - which includes big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques - is growing rapidly across all sectors of the knowledge economy. There is little doubt that the collection, dissemination, analysis, and use of data in government policy formation, strategic planning, decision execution, and the daily performance of duties can improve the functioning of government and the performance of public services. This is as true for law enforcement as any other government service.

Asaro. P. (2016). "Hands up, don't shoot!": HRI and the automation of police use of force. Journal of. Human-Robot Interactions. 5, 3, 55–69. https://doi.org/10.5898/JHRI.5.3.Asaro

Abstract

This paper considers the ethical challenges facing the development of robotic systems that deploy violent and lethal force against humans. While the use of violent and lethal force is not usually acceptable for humans or robots, police officers are authorized by the state to use violent and lethal force in certain circumstances in order to keep the peace and protect individuals and the community from an immediate threat. With the increased interest in developing and deploying robots for law enforcement tasks, including robots armed with weapons, the question arises as to how to design human-robot interactions (HRIs) in which violent and lethal force might be among the actions taken by the robot, or whether to preclude such actions altogether. This is what I call the "deadly design problem" for HRI. While it might be possible to design a system to recognize various gestures, such as "Hands up, don't shoot!," there are many more challenging and subtle aspects to the problem of implementing existing legal guidelines for the use of force in law enforcement robots. After examining the key legal and technical challenges of designing interactions involving violence, this paper concludes with some reflections on the ethics of HRI design raised by automating the use of force in policing. In light of the serious challenges in automating violence, it calls upon HRI researchers to adopt a moratorium on designing any robotic systems that deploy violent and lethal force against humans, and to consider ethical codes and laws to prohibit such systems in the future.

9. Aston, E., O'Neill, M., Hail, Y., and Wooff, A. (2021) Information sharing in community policing in Europe: building public confidence. European Journal of Criminology. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14773708211037902

Abstract

The literature on the importance of procedural justice in policing is extensive. Using the context of information sharing in community policing, this paper argues that interactional, procedural and distributive justice are salient in interactions between the police and the public, both online and face-to-face. Structured interviews (n = 161) were conducted with members of young minority groups and intermediaries (who work with minorities and police agencies) across nine countries in Europe. Our analysis of barriers and facilitators to sharing information with the police highlights processes of interactional, procedural and distributive justice in building public confidence. We highlight theoretical and practical implications of relevance to policing internationally. Our findings show that demonstrating aspects of interactional justice (attitude and behaviour, accessibility and communication, personal contact and relationships); procedural justice (responsiveness and efficiency, data protection and security); and distributive justice (outcomes and effectiveness, equity in distribution of policing services) have a role in building public confidence and facilitating information sharing with police online and face-to-face. We conclude that in addition to micro-level interactions, meso-level social processes (e.g. community policing models and data protection and security procedures) can be useful in enhancing public confidence.

Backman, C., & Löfstrand, C. H. (2021). Representations of Policing Problems and Body-Worn Cameras in Existing Research. International Criminal Justice Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/10575677211020813

Abstract

In this article, we analyze scholarly publications on body-worn cameras (BWCs) to shed light on scholars’ grounding assumptions about BWC technology and the policing problems assumed to be amended by it. We conducted a systematic search and a double-blind review, including 90 peer-reviewed journal articles, and analyzed how scholars warrant their studies, their findings and their recommendations. We found that BWC research largely investigates the effectiveness of BWCs worn by police officers in the United States and build upon a set of dominant policing problem representations: the police crisis in the United States and the police use of force, lack of oversight and control of police officers, citizen dissatisfaction and lack of police legitimacy, and police officer resistance toward BWC use. Assumptions underlying all four problem representations is that BWC technology will amend these problems and is legitimate and useful if the public supports it. Taken together, this enhances the representation of BWC technology as a self-evident means of improving community relations and police legitimacy in the United States. Finally, we provide recommendations for future research on BWCs, particularly the need for research departing from altogether different problem representations.

Beck, R. A., (2021). Artificial Intelligence, Predictive Policing, and Risk Assessment for Law Enforcement, Annual Review of Criminology 4. 1, 209-237.

Abstract

There are widespread concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in law enforcement. Predictive policing and risk assessment are salient examples. Worries include the accuracy of forecasts that guide both activities, the prospect of bias, and an apparent lack of operational transparency. Nearly breathless media coverage of artificial intelligence helps shape the narrative. In this review, we address these issues by first unpacking depictions of artificial intelligence. Its use in predictive policing to forecast crimes in time and space is largely an exercise in spatial statistics that in principle can make policing more effective and more surgical. Its use in criminal justice risk assessment to forecast who will commit crimes is largely an exercise in adaptive, nonparametric regression. It can in principle allow law enforcement agencies to better provide for public safety with the least restrictive means necessary, which can mean far less use of incarceration. None of this is mysterious. Nevertheless, concerns about accuracy, fairness, and transparency are real, and there are tradeoffs between them for which there can be no technical fix. You can't have it all. Solutions will be found through political and legislative processes achieving an acceptable balance between competing priorities.

Black, A. & Lumsden, K. (2020) Precautionary policing and dispositives of risk in a police force control room in domestic abuse incidents: an ethnography of call handlers, dispatchers and response officers, Policing and Society, 30, 1, 65-80, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2019.1568428

Abstract

This article explores the riskwork engaged in by call handlers, dispatchers and response officers in a police force control room in England. We present a novel approach by drawing on the work of Foucault and his concept le dispositif to study riskwork in policing in a post-austerity landscape and to develop the analytical concept of 'precautionary policing'. Dispositional analysis allows us to focus on social dispositions or inclinations and to demonstrate how these arrangements affect social interaction and organisational behaviour. We draw on data collected via ethnographic fieldwork focusing on domestic abuse incidents in a police force control room in England. The findings focus on: (1) organisational technologies of risk, which guided and surfaced staff actions and decision-making; (2) riskwork to mitigate and manage threats and harm to victims and the public; and (3) riskwork relating to the professional decision-making of individual staff and officers. In addition to bringing the risk tools and artefacts 'into being' through their (inter-)actions, for staff, these technologies are a safety net to justify practices. They erode opportunities for officer discretion, particularly in relation to responses to domestic incidents. Therefore, despite policy discussions of the need to reduce officers' risk aversion and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, a risk averse culture still pervades. Uncertainty becomes a justification for pre-emptive action by officers and staff before risks become known, and demonstrates a shift to precautionary policing practices which do not follow the blueprints of risk management.

Bloch, S. (2021). Aversive racism and community-instigated policing: The spatial politics of Nextdoor. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space. https://doi.org/10.1177/23996544211019754

Abstract

I bring an understanding of the concept and practice of “aversive racism” to scholarly thinking about community formation. I argue that the exclusionary contours of community are in part a product of racialized in- and outgrouping from which people’s capacities for place-making are judged and localized policing is instigated. In bringing these concepts, formations, and practices together, this paper contributes to how urbanists might continue to think about the role of race in displacement, particularly as it plays out in the context of neighborhood change and gentrification more broadly. In the penultimate section I provide a discussion of the popular Nextdoor app as a means of illustrating a contemporary example of community-instigated policing and platform for what Dána-Ain Davis calls “muted racism.”

Bradford, B., Yesberg, J. A., Jackson, J., and Dawson, P., (2020). Live Facial Recognition: Trust and Legitimacy as Predictors of Public Support For Police Use of New Technology, The British Journal of Criminology, 60, 6, 1502–1522, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaa032

Abstract

Facial recognition technology is just one of a suite of new digital tools police and other security providers around the world are adopting in an effort to function more safely and efficiently. This paper reports results from a major new London-based study exploring public responses to Live Facial Recognition (LFR): a technology that enables police to carry out real-time automated identity checks in public spaces. We find that public trust and legitimacy are important factors predicting the acceptance or rejection of LFR. Crucially, trust and, particularly, legitimacy seem to serve to alleviate privacy concerns about police use of this technology. In an era where police use of new technologies is only likely to increase, especially as the Covid-19 global pandemic develops, these findings have important implications for police–public relations and how the ‘public voice’ is fed into debates.

Braga, A. A., & Schnell, C., (2013). Evaluating Place-Based Policing Strategies Lessons Learned from the Smart Policing Initiative in Boston, Police Quarterly, 16, 3, 339-357. DOI: 10.1177/1098611113497046.

Abstract: In response to an increase in violent crime during the mid-2000s, the Boston Police Department implemented the Safe Street Teams program to control "hot spots" that generated a disproportionate amount of violence in Boston through the use of community and problem-oriented policing interventions. Like many police programs, the Safe Street Teams strategy was not implemented with a commitment to conduct a program evaluation. The Smart Policing Initiative provided the Boston Police with an important opportunity to partner with academic researchers to perform retrospective process and impact evaluations. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the concentration and stability of violent crime in targeted places, examine the integrity of program implementation, and conduct a rigorous quasi-experimental analysis of program impacts. These research products established the crime control effectiveness of the Safe Street Teams and assisted the Boston Police in strengthening the implementation of the program.

Bragias, A., Hine, K., & Fleet, R., (2021) ‘Only in our best interest, right?’ Public perceptions of police use of facial recognition technology, Police Practice and Research, 22, 6, 1637-1654, DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2021.1942873

Abstract

Facial recognition technology (FRT) offers police a fast, efficient, and accurate way of identifying criminals. However, as with any new technology, the public is often sceptical about how the police will use this technology and how it may impinge on the public's privacy and security. Subsequently, if police use of FRT is perceived as illegitimate, police-citizen relationships may deteriorate - this is especially concerning given the current lack of trust and confidence in police as expressed in the Black Lives Matter movement and other protests against police actions. This paper takes a novel approach to examining public opinions and attitudes about the use of FRT by police. To do this, we thematically analysed 609 public commentary posts published on 71 YouTube clips about police use of FRT. We found that the public in this sample expressed mostly negative sentiments about the use of FRT by police, identifying three main concerns: authority and power, technology, rights and freedoms. However, we also found some support for police using FRT. These findings are discussed in terms of the theoretical concept of the new regulatory state; in particular steering (government policy) and rowing (implementation). These findings suggest that if police authorities and policy makers address these specific concerns by being transparent in their practices and educate the public about misinformation, then policing agencies may have an increase support for the use of FRT by police and, moreover, build trust and confidence in police.

Brandt, T., Dlugosch, O., Abdelwahed, A., van den Berg, P. L., Neumann D. (2021). Prescriptive Analytics in Urban Policing Operations, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, DOI: 10.1287/msom.2021.1022.

Abstract:

Problem definition: We consider the case of prescriptive policing, that is, the data-driven assignment of police cars to different areas of a city. We analyze key problems with respect to prediction, optimization, and evaluation as well as trade-offs between different quality measures and crime types. Academic/practical relevance: Data-driven prescriptive analytics is gaining substantial attention in operations management research, and effective policing is at the core of the operations of almost every city in the world. Given the vast amounts of data increasingly collected within smart city initiatives and the growing safety challenges faced by urban centers worldwide, our work provides novel insights on the development and evaluation of prescriptive analytics applications in an urban context. Methodology: We conduct a computational study using crime and auxiliary data on the city of San Francisco. We analyze both strong and weak prediction methods along with two optimization formulations representing the deterrence and response time impact of police vehicle allocations. We analyze trade-offs between these effects and between different crime types. Results: We find that even weaker prediction methods can produce Pareto-efficient outcomes with respect to deterrence and response time. We identify three different archetypes of combinations of prediction methods and optimization objectives that constitute the Pareto frontier among the configurations we analyze. Furthermore, optimizing for multiple crime types biases allocations in a way that generally decreases single type performance along one outcome metric but can improve it along the other. Managerial implications: Although optimization integrating all relevant crime types is theoretically possible, it is practically challenging because each crime type requires a collectively consistent weight. We present a framework combining prediction and optimization for a subset of key crime types with exploring the impact on the remaining types to support implementation of operations-focused smart city solutions in practice.

Bratton, W. J., & Malinowski, S. W., (2008), Police Performance Management in Practice: Taking COMPSTAT to the Next Level, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2, 3, 259–265, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pan036

Abstract

William J. Bratton is Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and former Chief of the NYPD. He is best known for leading the development and expansion of COMPSTAT, the internationally acclaimed command accountability system that uses computer-mapping technology and timely crime analysis to target emerging crime patterns and coordinate police response. Sean W. Malinowski, Ph.D., is a Lieutenant with the LAPD serving as the Assistant Commanding Officer of the LAPD's Real-time Analysis and Critical Response Division. He is a senior fellow with Long Island University's Homeland Security Management Institute. In this article, they consider police performance management in practice, through the lens of Chief Bratton's own experience of reducing crime in New York and Los Angeles. By measuring the performance of police managers whilst holding them to account for crimes, they explain the role COMPSTAT played in fighting crime in these areas and look forward to see how police can continue to innovate and expand upon existing police performance measures.

Brayne, S., & Christin, A. (2021), Technologies of Crime Prediction: The Reception of Algorithms in Policing and Criminal Courts, Social Problems, 68, 3, 608–624, https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spaa004

Abstract

The number of predictive technologies used in the U.S. criminal justice system is on the rise. Yet there is little research to date on the reception of algorithms in criminal justice institutions. We draw on ethnographic fieldwork conducted within a large urban police department and a midsized criminal court to assess the impact of predictive technologies at different stages of the criminal justice process. We first show that similar arguments are mobilized to justify the adoption of predictive algorithms in law enforcement and criminal courts. In both cases, algorithms are described as more objective and efficient than humans’ discretionary judgment. We then study how predictive algorithms are used, documenting similar processes of professional resistance among law enforcement and legal professionals. In both cases, resentment toward predictive algorithms is fueled by fears of deskilling and heightened managerial surveillance. Two practical strategies of resistance emerge: foot-dragging and data obfuscation. We conclude by discussing how predictive technologies do not replace, but rather displace discretion to less visible—and therefore less accountable—areas within organizations, a shift which has important implications for inequality and the administration of justice in the age of big data.

Brewster, B., Gibson, H., and Gunning, M. (2018). Policing the Community Together: The Impact of Technology on Citizen Engagement. Societal Implications of Community Oriented Policing Technology. 91--102. https://doi.org/10.1007/978--3--319--89297--9_11

Despite broad and often varied underlying definitions, a common theme throughout community and neighbourhood policing strategies establishes the need to target improvements in the relationship and level of engagement between the police and the communities they serve. Community policing approaches have long underpinned a desire to move away from reactive policing models towards those which establish a more proactive philosophy, responsive to the wants and needs of the community. The near ubiquitous proliferation of smartphones and other ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) means they are often seen as a vector through which initiatives of all kinds can instil a culture of proactive engagement with their respective stakeholder communities. This paper builds upon existing research which suggests that technologies for crime prevention should be designed to support communications and problem-solving rather than used simply as a means to disseminate information, unpacking a number of the core concepts that are considered central to participation and effective engagement; social capital, public participation and social and digital inclusion. Moreover, examples of wider initiatives are comparatively discussed, not just those associated with community policing, which target the engagement of communities through the use of technology, and more specifically mobile applications, before reflecting on the empirical evidence and experiences gleaned through the EU H2020 funded ‘UNITY’ project, a project that sought to establish effective strategies for engagement between police and citizen communities.

Bromberg, D. E., Charbonneau, E., & Smith, A. (2020). Public support for facial recognition via police body-worn cameras: Findings from a list experiment, Government Information Quarterly, 37, 1, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2019.101415.

Abstract

Emerging technologies like facial recognition have the potential to change the delivery of public services, but also to reshape the notion of citizenship. The factors influencing the consent of the governed matters to gauge if this specific surveillance technology might be deployed further. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has identified social norms as a contributor to technology adoption. We test social norms for the adoption of facial recognition technology based on an experiment with a sample of residents of New Hampshire through a phone survey, and with a sample of Americans via a web survey. The experiment estimates the overt and real support for facial recognition through police body-worn cameras. Our results are that gender, age and political affiliation matters to explain support for facial recognition via BWC, as females and non-Trump voters harbor reticence that they only express when provided with a measure of anonymity.

Brookman, F., & Jones, H. (2022) Capturing killers: the construction of CCTV evidence during homicide investigations, Policing and Society, 32, 2, 125-144, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2021.1879075

Abstract

Drawing upon quantitative and qualitative data gathered during a four-year ethnographic study of 44 British homicide investigations, this paper advances the sparse literature on how closed-circuit television (CCTV) contributes to criminal investigations and the risks associated with its use. Based on insights gleaned from interviews with homicide detectives, analysis of case files and observations of live homicide investigations, we examine how CCTV is used during homicide investigations focusing principally on two key investigative moments - identifying and charging suspects. Our quantitative data indicate that CCTV is used more frequently than any other kind of forensic science or technology to both identify and charge suspects. Nevertheless, our qualitative data reveal numerous challenges associated with how CCTV footage is recovered, viewed, shared, interpreted and packaged for court. We reveal the individual and organisational processes and workarounds that have emerged in a socio-technical landscape that lacks clear standards and principles. We discuss the implications of these findings for practice and policy and their relevance to questions about the socially constructed nature of forensic scientific knowledge.

Bullock, K. (2018). The Police Use of Social Media: Transformation or Normalisation? Social Policy and Society, 17, 2, 245-258. doi:10.1017/S1474746417000112

Abstract

There has been optimism that social media will facilitate citizen participation and transform the communication strategies of public organisations. Drawing on a case study of the public police in England, this article considers whether social media are transforming or normalising communications. Arguing that social media have not yet served to facilitate interaction between constabularies and citizens in the ways that have been proposed and desired, the article considers factors that structure the transformative potential of social media. It is argued that the uses of social media are mediated by the existing organisational and occupational concerns of the police. This article reveals how an interplay of organisational, technological and individual and cultural dynamics come together to shape how social media are used in constabularies. Embedding social media into police communications is challenging and the technology itself will not bring about the organisational and cultural changes needed to transform police–citizen engagement.

Carter, J. G., & Grommon, E. (2017) Officer perceptions of the impact of mobile broadband technology on police operations. Policing and Society 27, 8, 847-864.

Abstract

Research examining police departments' use of technology is underdeveloped relative to other areas of policing. This gap in the literature is troubling as policing models are becoming more data-driven and thus, relying more heavily on information technologies. Arguably, the most commonly utilised technology in policing practice, and examined in policing research, has been mobile computers. However, there has been little insight into the technological advancement in data communications that directly influence the functionality of mobile computers. This research seeks to inform this shortcoming by examining a police department that implemented a dedicated wireless mobile broadband system. A mixed-methods approach is employed within a medium-sized department in the northeast region of the USA. Survey data were gathered from 76 uniformed police personnel. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key personnel to further contextualise survey results. Survey results suggest tentative support for improved time savings and execution of job tasks after the implementation of wireless broadband. Perceptions of mobile broadband impacts on information flow, quality, and accessibility appear positive. Considerations for future research and study limitations are discussed.

Catte, R., & Linden, R., (2021). Leadership and Change in Winnipeg's Smart Policing Initiative, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15, 1, 181-196. DOI: 10.1093/police/pay077.

Abstract:

If evidence-based policing is to be successful, we need to know more about how leaders can successfully introduce change into their organizations. This study looks at a Smart Policing Initiative (SPI) implemented by the Winnipeg Police Service. Line officers and management personnel were interviewed to determine how they dealt with the implementation of SPI. We used activity data to determine whether officers actually carried out the activities integral to the SPI programme. The research concludes that there was attitudinal 'buy-in' to the programme and that the officers did carry out the proactive policing activities mandated by the programme.

Clavell, G. (2018), Exploring the ethical, organisational and technological challenges of crime mapping: a critical approach to urban safety technologies. Ethics Inf Technol 20, 265–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-018-9477-1

Abstract

Technology is pervasive in current police practices, and has been for a long time. From CCTV to crime mapping, databases, biometrics, predictive analytics, open source intelligence, applications and a myriad of other technological solutions take centre stage in urban safety management. But before efficient use of these applications can be made, it is necessary to confront a series of challenges relating to the organizational structures that will be used to manage them, to their technical capacities and expectations, and to weigh up the positive and negative external factors at play at the intersection between technology, society and urban management. The paper contributes to this discussion by looking into the dynamics that drive technological uptake in the field of urban safety, the different theories underpinning the relationship between crime and space, and the history and technological characteristics of Geographic Information Systems to later present specific case studies and practical examples of crime mapping systems. Finally, addressing matters related to organisational constraints, technological possibilities and societal impact from a critical point of view, the paper lays out guidelines to ensure that using technology to manage urban safety does not result in increased victimisation, inequalities or inefficiency. Taking one of the longest established technology used in police practice, crime mapping, and using a multidisciplinary, critical approach to escape technological solutionism and bridge the gap between the academic literature (STS, urban sociology, environmental criminology) and policy needs and recommendations, this paper sends a cautionary tale to those hoping that technology alone can solve complex urban and social problems.

Cuomo, D., & Dolci, N. (2021). New tools, old abuse: Technology-Enabled Coercive Control (TECC), Geoforum, 126, 224-232, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.08.002.

Abstract

This paper examines how domestic violence abusers utilize digital technologies to extend their spatial and temporal control over survivors. By highlighting how digital technologies have become central tools for abusers to threaten, stalk, harass and surveil their partners, we situate technology-enabled coercive control as a continuation of harm perpetrated by domestic violence abusers, rather than a new or distinct form of abuse. Drawing on qualitative interviews conducted in Seattle with survivors, advocates, law enforcement officers and prosecutors, we show how digital technologies enable abusers to more efficiently and effectively coercively control survivors anywhere and at any time, including after the relationship has ended. This paper contributes to geographic scholarship analyzing the role of digital technologies in policing and surveillance and advances this literature through a feminist geographic analytic that offers an embodied accounting of the way digital technologies regulate, discipline and govern at the scale of the body and within intimate relationships.

Custers, B. (2012). Technology in policing: Experiences, obstacles and police needs, Computer Law & Security Review, 28, 1 62-68, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2011.11.009.

Abstract

Increasing efforts are made by police forces all over the world to optimize the use of technology in policing and remove any obstacles as new and existing technologies provide new opportunities for law enforcement, criminal investigation and prosecution. This contribution describes results of research on which technologies are currently used at police forces and other criminal investigation organizations in the Netherlands, their experiences with these technologies and their needs and preferences in this regard. For existing opportunities the prevalence and satisfaction of several technologies in policing, including wiretapping, fingerprints, DNA research, database coupling, data mining and profiling, camera surveillance and network analyses were investigated. For new opportunities the most promising technologies (i.e., promising according to the police forces) were mapped. Furthermore, an inventory was made of the legal, technological and organizational obstacles police forces encounter when using different technologies for purposes like law enforcement, criminal investigation and prosecution.

Custers, B. & Vergouw, B., (2015), Promising policing technologies: Experiences, obstacles and police needs regarding law enforcement technologies, Computer Law & Security Review, 31, 4, 518-526, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2015.05.005

Abstract

Police forces and law enforcement agencies in many countries are continuously trying to optimize the use of technologies in policing and law enforcement. Efforts are being made to remove existing technological, legal and organizational obstacles to create more opportunities of promising technologies, both existing and new. This contribution describes the results of a survey among 46 police forces and other law enforcement agencies in 11 countries. Their experiences with policing technologies and their needs and preferences in this regard are described. The prevalence and satisfaction of existing technologies, including wiretapping, fingerprints, DNA research, database coupling, data mining and profiling, camera surveillance and network analyses were investigated. Legal, technological and organizational obstacles for the use of technology in policing were mapped and the extent to which policing technologies are evaluated and yield success stories was investigated. The main obstacles, according to the respondents, are insufficient financial resources and insufficient availability of technology. One in four organizations is lacking any clear, appealing success stories and half of the respondents indicated they were not performing any evaluations on the effectiveness of using particular technologies in policing. As a result, the information available on whether technologies in policing are actually working is very limited.

Daly, A., Mann, M., Squires, P., & Walters, R. (2021) 3D printing, policing and crime, Policing and Society, 31, 1, 37-51, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2020.1730835

Abstract

This article examines the implications of advanced manufacturing technology, more commonly known as three dimensional (3D) printing, for policing and crime, notably the dissemination of digital design files and the use of 3D printers to produce illicit firearms. The application and rapid evolution of 3D printing technology has created new challenges for law and regulation, and represents an interesting security paradox, albeit one which until now has received scant attention in the criminological or policing literature. On the one hand, 3D printing denotes a significant shift in the creation and use of objects, ranging from food to body parts, and more controversially, weaponry. On the other hand, the use of this technology to create items such as firearms and weapons signifies a potential safety, security, and legal challenge. We explore the emergence of 3D printing and its use to create firearms along with the theoretical challenges to legal design and enforcement presented by this decentralised technology. We also present some empirical data on instances of 3D printed firearms and firearm parts being detected internationally, and some jurisdictions' legal and policy responses. We conclude by considering that any regulation of 3D printed firearms must be based on a robust evidence base and take proper account of citizens' rights, but also that any national regulation will be in tension with the transnational and decentralised nature of the technology.

Davis, J.M., & Garb, Y. (2020). Toward Active Community Environmental Policing: Potentials and Limits of a Catalytic Model, Environmental Management 65, 3, 385-398 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-020-01252-1

Abstract:

This paper offers a field-tested community environmental policing model to address the pressing environmental management challenges of reducing e-waste burning in informal e-waste hubs, and enforcement against informal polluting industries more broadly. This is based on our intervention to reduce e-waste burning in a substantial informal e-waste hub in the West Bank, Palestine, a 45 km(2) region in which an estimated 5-10 metric tonnes of cables are burnt daily, causing serious environmental and public health consequences. In analogous e-waste hubs in the global South, environmental management solutions have focused on economically attractive alternatives to replace cable burning or policies that integrate informal recyclers with formal e-waste management systems-achieving little success. Our paper describes a two-pronged intervention in Palestine's e-waste hub, which reduced e-waste burning by 80% through a combination of economically competitive cable grinding services and an "active" community environmental policing initiative that lowered barriers to and successfully advocated for governmental policing of e-waste burning. Our discussion of this intervention addresses the community environmental policing literature, which has documented few successes stories of real improvements to the enforcement of environmental violations. We argue that existing strategies have relied on "passive" approaches comprised of monitoring and reporting environmental violations to advocate for change. Our strategy offers a template to improve outcomes through a more "active" approach, moving from monitoring environmental violations through understanding the rationale and dynamics of violators, identifying environmental policing barriers, and implementing a feasible and persuasive strategy to overcome them.

Deckert, A., Long, N. J., Aikman, P. J., Appleton, N. S., Graham Davies, S., Trnka, S., Fehoko, E., Holroyd, E., Jivraj, N., Laws, M., Martin-Anatias, N., Pukepuke, R., Roguski, M., Simpson, N., Sterling, R., & Tunufa’I, L. (2021) ‘Safer communities … together’? Plural policing and COVID-19 public health interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand, Policing and Society, 31, 5, 621-637, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2021.1924169

Abstract

International media have praised Aotearoa New Zealand for its response to the coronavirus pandemic. While New Zealand Police played a fundamental role in enforcing pandemic control measures, the policing landscape remained plural. This article employs Loader [2000. Plural policing and democratic governance. Social and legal studies, 9 (3), 323-345] model of plural policing to understand responses to public health emergencies. It identifies two forms of policing which were evident in Aotearoa during the COVID-19 lockdown that should be added to Loader's model. First, we argue that contexts with colonial history require that the model not only includes by-government and below-government policing but also next-to-government policing by Indigenous peoples - such as the 'community checkpoints' run by Maori. Second, and further developing Loader's model, we argue that the category of below-government policing be expanded to include 'peer-to-peer policing' in which government responsibilizes members of the public to subject each other to large-scale surveillance and social control. Since plural forms of policing affect each other's functionality and legitimacy, we argue that what happens at the synapses between policing nodes has profound implications for the process of community building. Because community building is essential to fighting pandemics, we conclude that the policing of pandemic intervention measures may require an expanded understanding and practice of plural policing to support an optimal public health strategy.

Degeling, M., & Berendt, B. (2018), What is wrong about Robocops as consultants? A technology-centric critique of predictive policing. AI & Soc 33, 347–356 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-017-0730-7

Abstract

Fighting crime has historically been a field that drives technological innovation, and it can serve as an example of different governance styles in societies. Predictive policing is one of the recent innovations that covers technical trends such as machine learning, preventive crime fighting strategies, and actual policing in cities. However, it seems that a combination of exaggerated hopes produced by technology evangelists, media hype, and ignorance of the actual problems of the technology may have (over-)boosted sales of software that supports policing by predicting offenders and crime areas. In this paper we analyse currently used predictive policing software packages with respect to common problems of data mining, and describe challenges that arise in the context of their socio-technical application.

Duarte, D. E., (2021), The Making of Crime Predictions: Sociotechnical Assemblages and the Controversies of Governing Future Crime, Surveillance and Society, 19, 2, 199-215.

Abstract:

We are witnessing an upsurge in crime forecasting software, which supposedly draws predictive knowledge from data on past crime. Although prevention and anticipation are already embedded in the apparatuses of government, going beyond a mere abstract aspiration, the latest innovations hold out the promise of replacing police officers' "gut feelings" and discretionary risk assessments with algorithmic-powered, quantified analyses of risk scores. While police departments and private companies praise such innovations for their cost-effective rationale, critics raise concerns regarding their potential for discriminating against poor, black, and migrant communities. In this article, I address such controversies by telling the story of the making of CrimeRadar, an app developed by a Rio de Janeiro-based think tank in partnership with private associates and local police authorities. Drawing mostly on Latour's contributions to the emerging literature on security assemblages, I argue that we gain explanatory and critical leverage by looking into the mundane practices of making and unmaking sociotechnical arrangements. That is, I address the chain of translations through which crime data are collected, organized, and transformed into risk scores. In every step, new ways of seeing and presenting crime are produced, with a significant impact on how we experience and act upon (in)security.

Dunlop, J., Chechak, D., Hamby, W., & Holosko, M. J., (2021) Social Work and Technology: Using Geographic Information Systems to Leverage Community Development Responses to Hate Crimes, Journal of Technology in Human Services, DOI: 10.1080/15228835.2021.1931635

Abstract

This study highlights technology use in community development showing how social workers, police, and neighborhood residents promote safer neighborhoods. The approach used was geographic information systems (GIS) to target specific neighborhoods characterized as needing timely interventions. GIS is a technological sub-specialty and form of spatial cartography allowing data to be stored, manipulated, and visually displayed. This article focuses on how social workers can apply such approaches to enhance their communities and neighborhood residents. We offer a case study of a hate crimes project in Canada that brought together university researchers and a local police service into a research project, designed to identify specific neighborhood places where hate crimes were occurring. We propose that community social workers can form meaningful partnerships with technology experts and leverage this relationship into an expanded practice skill with tangible improvements to the communities they work with.

Egbert, S., & Krasmann, S. (2020) Predictive policing: not yet, but soon preemptive?, Policing and Society, 30, 8, 905-919, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2019.1611821

Abstract

For several years now, crime prediction software operating on the basis of data analysis and algorithmic pattern detection has been employed by police departments throughout the world. As these technologies aim at forestalling criminal events, they may aptly be understood as elements of preventive strategies. Do they also initiate a logic of preemptive policing, as several authors have suggested? Using the example of crime prediction software that is used in German-speaking countries, the article shows how current forms of predictive policing echo classical modes of risk calculation: usually employed in connection with domestic burglary, they help police to identify potential high-risk areas by extrapolating past crime patterns into the future. However, preemptive elements also emerge, to the extent that the software fosters 'possibilistic' thinking in police operations. Moreover, current advances in crime prediction technologies give us a quite different picture of a probable future of preemptive policing. Following a general trend of data-driven government that draws on self-learning algorithms and heterogeneous data sources, crime prediction software will likely be integrated into assemblages of predictive technologies where criminal events are indeed foreclosed before they can unfold and emerge, implying preemptive police action.

Ekaabi, M. A., Khalid, K., Davidson, R., Kamarudin, A. H., Preece, C. (2020), Smart policing service quality: conceptualisation, development and validation, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 43, 5, 707-721. DOI: 10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2020-0038.

Abstract:

Purpose This study evaluates a multidimensional hierarchical scale of smart policing service quality. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative and quantitative analysis tools were used to develop a smart policing service quality scale based on the integrative psychometric scale development methodology. A multidimensional hierarchical structure was proposed for smart policing service quality; a group of preliminary items selected from literature was used for the qualitative analysis. For data collection, users of smart policing services were selected through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) research centre. Several statistical methods were employed to verify reliability and validity of the construct and nomological validity of the proposed scale. Findings A smart policing service quality scale of 23 items was developed based on a hierarchical factor model structure. Nomological testing indicated that overall smart policing service quality is positive and significant, thus contributing to user satisfaction, intention to continue using the system and enhanced quality of life. Practical implications This study enables managers to evaluate types of policing quality and effectively implement strategies to address security and sustainability issues that exist currently in smart services. Originality/value Previous studies on policing service quality have not sufficiently addressed the role of smart policing service quality; the nature of discussion in this area is primarily based around concepts. The development of the smart policing service quality scale provides a measurement tool for researchers to use to enhance the understanding of smart policing service quality.

Ellis, J., (2019) Renegotiating police legitimacy through amateur video and social media: lessons from the police excessive force at the 2013 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 31. 3, 412-432, DOI: 10.1080/10345329.2019.1640171

Abstract

This article examines the impact of digital media technologies on police-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) community relations in Sydney through a viral video of police excessive force filmed after the 2013 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. Critical media analysis, and 15 in-depth interviews with police and non-police respondents directly affected by the video, make an in-depth, qualitative contribution to legitimacy and procedural justice studies on the impact of digital technologies on LGBTIQ community trust in police. The findings emphasise the capacity of amateur video of police excessive force publicised directly through social media to pressure the police to account, to catalyse LGBTIQ community responses and to negotiate through online fora legitimate boundaries of police practice. Exposure through social media can pressure the police to justify police transgression in real time; a form of 'dynamic' legitimacy requiring continuous and detailed justification of police practice that can exhaust standard police responses through a potentially infinite claim-response dialogue. Despite revision of policing practices at Mardi Gras since 2013, ongoing discrepancies between police understanding and public perceptions of a range of police tactics, including use of force, emphasise the continued importance of dialogue between police and LGBTIQ communities.

Ellison, M., Bannister, J., Lee, W. D., & Haleem, M. S. (2021). Understanding policing demand and deployment through the lens of the city and with the application of big data. Urban Studies, 58, 15, 3157–3175. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020981007

Abstract

The effective, efficient and equitable policing of urban areas rests on an appreciation of the qualities and scale of, as well as the factors shaping, demand. It also requires an appreciation of the factors shaping the resources deployed in their address. To this end, this article probes the extent to which policing demand (crime, anti-social behaviour, public safety and welfare) and deployment (front-line resource) are similarly conditioned by the social and physical urban environment, and by incident complexity. The prospect of exploring policing demand, deployment and their interplay is opened through the utilisation of big data and artificial intelligence and their integration with administrative and open data sources in a generalised method of moments (GMM) multilevel model. The research finds that policing demand and deployment hold varying and time-sensitive association with features of the urban environment. Moreover, we find that the complexities embedded in policing demands serve to shape both the cumulative and marginal resources expended in their address. Beyond their substantive policy relevance, these findings serve to open new avenues for urban criminological research centred on the consideration of the interplay between policing demand and deployment.

Enarsson, T., Enqvist, L., & Naarttijärvi, M. (2022) Approaching the human in the loop – legal perspectives on hybrid human/algorithmic decision-making in three contexts, Information & Communications Technology Law, 31,1, 123-153, DOI: 10.1080/13600834.2021.1958860

Abstract

Public and private organizations are increasingly implementing various algorithmic decision-making systems. Through legal and practical incentives, humans will often need to be kept in the loop of such decision-making to maintain human agency and accountability, provide legal safeguards, or perform quality control. Introducing such human oversight results in various forms of semi-automated, or hybrid decision-making - where algorithmic and human agents interact. Building on previous research we illustrate the legal dependencies forming an impetus for hybrid decision-making in the policing, social welfare, and online moderation contexts. We highlight the further need to situate hybrid decision-making in a wider legal environment of data protection, constitutional and administrative legal principles, as well as the need for contextual analysis of such principles. Finally, we outline a research agenda to capture contextual legal dependencies of hybrid decision-making, pointing to the need to go beyond legal doctrinal studies by adopting socio-technical perspectives and empirical studies.

41. Ernst, S., ter Veen, H., and Kop, N. (2021). Technological innovation in a police organization: Lessons learned from the National Police of the Netherlands, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15, 3: 1818–1831, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paab003

Abstract

Police organizations internationally explore and experiment with new technologies to improve their performance and in response to new forms of crime. The police in the Netherlands experiment with various forms of innovative technology. Previous research has shown that social, organizational, and technological factors are important for effective use and deployment of technology by the police. However, the precise factors and mechanisms underlying the promotion or inhibition of technological innovations within the police are not clear. This study aims to provide empirical knowledge about these mechanisms by providing insight into the processes through which technological innovation develops within the police in the Netherlands. From January 2017 to February 2018, 13 technological innovation projects were subjected to a longitudinal process study. The results show that innovation processes within the police organization are often inhibited by organizational factors, whereas social factors can stimulate and promote these processes.

Fussey, P. Davies, B., & Innes, M. (2021), ‘Assisted’ facial recognition and the reinvention of suspicion and discretion in digital policing, The British Journal of Criminology, 61, 2, 325–344, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaa068

Abstract

Automated facial recognition (AFR) has emerged as one of the most controversial policing innovations of recent years. Drawing on empirical data collected during the United Kingdom’s two major police trials of AFR deployments—and building on insights from the sociology of policing, surveillance studies and science and technology studies—this article advances several arguments. Tracing a lineage from early sociologies of policing that accented the importance of police discretion and suspicion formation, the analysis illuminates how technological capability is conditioned by police discretion, but police discretion itself is also contingent on affordances brought by the operational and technical environment. These, in turn, frame and ‘legitimate’ subjects of a reinvented and digitally mediated ‘bureaucratic suspicion’.

Fussey, P., & Sandhu, A. (2020). Surveillance arbitration in the era of digital policing. Theoretical Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480620967020

Abstract

This article analyses adoptions of innovative technology into police surveillance activities. Extending the nascent body of empirical research on digital policing, the article draws on qualitative interview data of operational police uses of advanced surveillance technologies. Separate illustrative examples are drawn from social media intelligence gathering, digital forensics and covert online child sexual exploitation investigations. Here, surveillance governance mechanisms, often authored in the ‘pre-digital’ era, are deemed ill-fitting to the possibilities brought by new technologies. This generates new spaces of interpretation, where regulatory frameworks become renegotiated and reinterpreted, a process defined here as ‘surveillance arbitration’. These deliberations are resolved in myriad ways, including perceived licence for extended surveillance and, conversely, more cautious approaches motivated by perceived exposure to regulatory sanction.

Goldsmith, A. (2015) Disgracebook policing: social media and the rise of police indiscretion, Policing and Society, 25, 3, 249-267, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2013.864653

Abstract

This paper examines the problems for police reputation, operational effectiveness and integrity of the criminal justice system that can arise from off-duty use of social media (SM) by police officers. It locates recent trends in SM use against the background of changes in information and communication practices in policing and the wider community. The concept of police indiscretion is used to explore those features of SM that facilitate and encourage disclosures as well as to, using a series of case studies, identify the harms that can arise. It is suggested that there is currently insufficient appreciation of how SM is impacting upon policing and that, in contrast to the impacts of previous new technologies, SM has the potential to transform many policing practices more quickly and in a more wholesale fashion. Some suggestions for responding to this scenario are offered.

Gramagila, J.A., & Phillips, S.W. (2018). Police Officers’ Perceptions of Body-Worn Cameras in Buffalo and Rochester. American Journal of Criminal Justice 43, 313–328 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-017-9403-9

Abstract

Police body-worn cameras have been advanced as a solution to disparate perceptions among the citizenry, public officials, community leaders, and the police themselves in the highly contested arena of police-citizen encounters. As with previous innovations in policing it is important that programs or policies developed for street-level application be planned in advance, and the opinions of police officers should be understood prior to implementation. This study provides survey responses from police officers in Buffalo and Rochester regarding their perceptions of body-worn cameras. Survey items were borrowed from prior research in Phoenix and Los Angeles. It also included items intended to measure the officer's opinions about examining camera images prior to writing a report, an issue that is the subject of some disagreement among policy makers. Findings suggest similar attitudes toward body cameras not only among Buffalo and Rochester police officers, but also with police officers in other agencies. Almost all respondents agree or strongly agree that police officers should have the ability to review body camera images prior to writing a report. The policy implications of this finding are discussed.

Hamilton-Smith, N., McBride, M., & Atkinson, C. (2021) Lights, camera, provocation? Exploring experiences of surveillance in the policing of Scottish football, Policing and Society, 31, 2, 179-194, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2019.1696800

Abstract

Based primarily on research into the policing of football fans in Scotland following the implementation of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act (Scotland) Act 2012 this paper examines the interplay of police techniques and surveillance technologies in the policing of Scottish football. There has been relatively little academic attention directed towards the Act, so the question of why and how this flagship legislation generated such intense opposition that it was repealed within six years of its introduction demands investigation. This paper explores the implementation of the Act from the perspectives of football fans, criminal justice agencies, and representatives of football clubs, with a specific focus on the impact of police surveillance practices. The research uncovered strong perceptions that such practices were considered intimidatory, which may have weakened the perceived legitimacy of the Act. This paper poses a challenge to simple readings of evidence in terms of the claimed benefits of particular forms of surveillance, arguing that the use of technologies such as powerful hand-held cameras and body worn video (BWV) has had a detrimental impact on police-fan relationships, interactions and dialogue.

Harfield, C. (2021) Was Snowden virtuous?. Ethics Inf Technol 23, 373–383 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-021-09580-4

Abstract

Professor Shannon Vallor's theoretical framework of technomoral virtue ethics identifies character traits that can be cultivated to foster a future worth wanting in an environment of (mostly digital) emerging technologies. Such technologies and increased citizen participation in the new digital environment have reconfigured what is possible in policing and intelligence-gathering more quickly, perhaps, than sober and sensible policy reflection and formulation can keep pace with. Sensational and dramatic, seismic and devastating, the Snowden disclosures represent a particular expression of dissent against American intelligence community exploitation of emerging technologies in undertaking mass surveillance on a global scale. Responses to Snowden's actions, and perceptions of the (dis)value of the disclosures he made, are polarized. Polar opposites equate to vices in the Aristotlean view that posits virtue as the middle way. Here, the theoretical framework of technomoral virtue ethics is used for objective evaluation of Snowden's asserted motivations and documented actions against the benchmark of good cyber-citizenship that the framework describes. The fact that Snowden's account is strongly disputed by the U.S. Government does not in and of itself invalidate a theoretical evaluation. It is not the probative value of Snowden's account that is being tested, but how the narrative presented measures up to an ethical framework.

Hayward, K. J., & Maas, M. M. (2021). Artificial intelligence and crime: A primer for criminologists. Crime, Media, Culture, 17, 2, 209–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659020917434

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to a criminological audience. After a general review of the phenomenon (including brief explanations of important cognate fields such as ‘machine learning’, ‘deep learning’, and ‘reinforcement learning’), the paper then turns to the potential application of AI by criminals, including what we term here ‘crimes with AI’, ‘crimes against AI’, and ‘crimes by AI’. In these sections, our aim is to highlight AI’s potential as a criminogenic phenomenon, both in terms of scaling up existing crimes and facilitating new digital transgressions. In the third part of the article, we turn our attention to the main ways the AI paradigm is transforming policing, surveillance, and criminal justice practices via diffuse monitoring modalities based on prediction and prevention. Throughout the paper, we deploy an array of programmatic examples which, collectively, we hope will serve as a useful AI primer for criminologists interested in the ‘tech-crime nexus’.

Healey, K. and Stephens, N. (2017), Augmenting justice: Google glass, body cameras, and the politics of wearable technology, Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 15, 4, 370-384. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-04-2016-0010

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to uncover the assumptions and concerns driving public debates about Google Glass and police body cameras. In doing so, it shows how debates about wearable cameras reflect broader cultural tensions surrounding race and privilege.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs a form of critical discourse analysis to discover patterns in journalistic coverage of these two technologies.

Findings: Public response to Glass has been overwhelmingly negative, while response to body cameras has been positive. Analysis indicates that this contrasting response reflects a consistent public concern about the dynamics of power and privilege in the digital economy. While this concern is well-founded, news coverage indicates that technologists, policy makers and citizens each hold assumptions about the inevitability and unvarnished beneficence of technology.

Research limitations/implications: Since this qualitative approach seeks to discern broad emergent patterns, it does not employ a quantifiable and reproducible coding schema.

Practical implications: The article concludes by arguing that grassroots action, appropriate regulatory policy and revitalized systems of professional journalism are indispensable as the struggle for social justice unfolds in the emerging digital economy.

Social implications: These debates represent a struggle over what and how people see. Yet public discourse often glosses over the disadvantages of technological change, which impacts who is able to amass social power.

Originality/value: This comparative approach yields unique conceptual insight into debates about technologies that augment ways of seeing.

Henne, K., Shore, K., & Harb, J. I. (2021). Body-worn cameras, police violence and the politics of evidence: A case of ontological gerrymandering. Critical Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183211033923

Abstract

Public demands for greater police accountability, particularly in relation to violence targeting Black and Brown communities, have placed pressure on law enforcement organisations to be more transparent about officers’ actions. The implementation of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) has become a popular response. This article examines the embrace of BWCs amidst the wider shift toward evidence-based policing by scrutinising the body of research that evaluates the effects of these technologies. Through an intertextual analysis informed by insights from Critical Race Theory and Science and Technology Studies, we illustrate how the privileging of certain forms of empiricism, particularly randomised controlled trials, evinces what Woolgar and Pawluch describe as ontological gerrymandering. In doing so, the emergent evidence base supporting BWCs as a policing tool constitutively redefines police violence into a narrow conceptualisation rooted in encounters between citizens and police. This analysis examines how these framings, by design, minimise racialised power relations and inequalities. We conclude by reflecting on the implications of these evidence-based claims, arguing that they can direct attention away from – and thus can buttress – the structural conditions and institutions that perpetuate police violence.

Miliaikeala, S. J. Heen, J., Lieberman, D., & Miethe, T. D. (2018) The thin blue line meets the big blue sky: perceptions of police legitimacy and public attitudes towards aerial drones, Criminal Justice Studies, 31, 1, 18-37, DOI: 10.1080/1478601X.2017.1404463

Abstract

Police departments across the United States are now integrating new visual monitoring technology (e.g. unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs or'drones'], body cameras) into routine police practices. Despite their potential use in multiple areas of proactive and reactive policing, public attitudes toward police use of UAVs, and visual monitoring technology overall, is mixed. As an extension of previous research, the current study uses a national survey to assess how well individuals' perceptions about police legitimacy, effectiveness, and other criminal justice attitudes predict the level of public receptivity and opposition toward police UAV use in various contexts. The implications of these findings for public policy and law enforcement practices are discussed.

Hendl, T., Chung, R. & Wild, V. (2020), Pandemic Surveillance and Racialized Subpopulations: Mitigating Vulnerabilities in COVID-19 Apps. Bioethical Inquiry 17, 829–834. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-020-10034-7

Abstract

Debates about effective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have emphasized the paramount importance of digital tracing technology in suppressing the disease. So far, discussions about the ethics of this technology have focused on privacy concerns, efficacy, and uptake. However, important issues regarding power imbalances and vulnerability also warrant attention. As demonstrated in other forms of digital surveillance, vulnerable subpopulations pay a higher price for surveillance measures. There is reason to worry that some types of COVID-19 technology might lead to the employment of disproportionate profiling, policing, and criminalization of marginalized groups. It is, thus, of crucial importance to interrogate vulnerability in COVID-19 apps and ensure that the development, implementation, and data use of this surveillance technology avoids exacerbating vulnerability and the risk of harm to surveilled subpopulations, while maintaining the benefits of data collection across the whole population. This paper outlines the major challenges and a set of values that should be taken into account when implementing disease surveillance technology in the pandemic response.

Hendrix, J. A., Taniguchi, T., Strom, K. J., Aagaard, B. & Johnson, N. (2019) Strategic policing philosophy and the acquisition of technology: findings from a nationally representative survey of law enforcement, Policing and Society, 29, 6, 727-743, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2017.1322966

Abstract

Police departments that emphasise certain strategic models (e.g. community-oriented policing, problem-oriented policing) may adopt specific types of technology to better achieve their core missions. A contrasting theory is that police agencies do not invest strategically in technology; rather, they adopt technology in a black box' without a larger plan for how a particular technology fits within the agency's guiding philosophy or operational goals. Despite the importance of this discourse, very little research has been conducted to address these claims. Using survey data from a large and nationally representative sample of police agencies in the United States (N=749), we examine whether strategic police goals are associated with technology use for six core technologies (crime mapping, social media, data mining software, car cameras, license plate readers (LPRs), and body-worn cameras (BWCs)). Nationally, across the sample of all US law enforcement agencies, we find little relationship between strategic goals and technology. Agency size, rather than policing philosophy was a more important determinant of technology use. However, stronger relationships between strategy and technology emerged when the analysis was limited to a subsample of larger agencies (250 or more sworn officers). Specifically, community and hot spot policing strategies were positively associated with the use of geographic information system technology, social media, and LPRs. Agencies who emphasised hot spot policing were also more likely to have used BWCs. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Henman, P. (2019) Of algorithms, Apps and advice: digital social policy and service delivery, Journal of Asian Public Policy, 12, 1, 71-89, DOI: 10.1080/17516234.2018.1495885

Abstract:

Governments across the world have been developing and adopting new digital technologies for about a half of a century to support policy making and service delivery processes. Yet, until recently minimal critical attention has been given to this phenomenon and how it is transforming government. This paper reviews recent research on new and emerging technologies and the associated transformations they have for government policy and service delivery and the consequences for citizens and service users. The paper focuses on three key uses of digital technologies: automation, apps and advice. With the use of these examples, the paper demonstrates that visions of digital government of greater efficiency, improved quality of service delivery and open and accountable government are often not achieved. The paper concludes by acknowledging the ongoing importance of digital technologies in government, but also a need for a critical awareness of the power context of the adoption of technologies, of how policy and administrative principles may be undermined, and how populations may be increasingly segmented, fragmented and controlled.

Hobson, Z., Yesberg, J.A., Bradford, B. et al. (2021), Artificial fairness? Trust in algorithmic police decision-making. J Exp Criminol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-021-09484-9

Abstract

Objectives Test whether (1) people view a policing decision made by an algorithm as more or less trustworthy than when an officer makes the same decision; (2) people who are presented with a specific instance of algorithmic policing have greater or lesser support for the general use of algorithmic policing in general; and (3) people use trust as a heuristic through which to make sense of an unfamiliar technology like algorithmic policing. Methods An online experiment tested whether different decision-making methods, outcomes and scenario types affect judgements about the appropriateness and fairness of decision-making and the general acceptability of police use of this particular technology. Results People see a decision as less fair and less appropriate when an algorithm decides, compared to when an officer decides. Yet, perceptions of fairness and appropriateness were strong predictors of support for police use of algorithms, and being exposed to a successful use of an algorithm was linked, via trust in the decision made, to greater support for police use of algorithms. Conclusions Making decisions solely based on algorithms might damage trust, and the more police rely solely on algorithmic decision-making, the less trusting people may be in decisions. However, mere exposure to the successful use of algorithms seems to enhance the general acceptability of this technology.

Hood, J., (2020), Making the Body Electric: The Politics of Body-Worn Cameras and Facial Recognition in the United States, Surveillance and Society, 18, 2, 157-169.

Abstract

This paper explores the rapid deployment of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) and the subsequent push for the integration of biometric technologies (i.e., facial recognition) into these devices. To understand the political dangers of these technologies, I outline the concept of "making the body electric" to provide a critical language for cultural practices of identifying, augmenting, and fixing the body through technological means. Further, I argue how these practices reinforce normative understandings of the body and its political functionality, specifically with BWCs and facial recognition. I then analyze the rise of BWCs in a cultural moment of high-profile police violence against unarmed people of color in the United States. In addition to examining the ethics of BWCs, I examine the politics of facial recognition and the dangers that this form of biometric surveillance pose for marginalized groups, arguing against the interface of these two technologies. The pairing of BWCs with facial recognition presents a number of sociopolitical dangers that reinforce the privilege of perspective granted to police in visual understandings of law enforcement activity. It is the goal of this paper to advance critical discussion of BWCs and biometric surveillance as mechanisms for leveraging political power and racial marginalization.

Holley, C., Mutongwizo, T., Shearing C., (2020), Conceptualizing Policing and Security: New Harmscapes, the Arithropocene, and Technology, Annual Review of Criminology, 3, 341-358, DOI10.1116/annurev-criminol-011419-041330.

Abstract

This review explores past and future shifts in policing and criminology scholarship that have shaped, and been shaped by, what is done to enhance safety within political domains. Investigating established policing conceptualizations, the review demonstrates how the ideal of state -delivered safety as a public good was challenged by a sizeable policing industry, giving rise to debates about legal context, service provision, and conceptualizations of policing and security nodal arrangements. This review argues that these understandings are now confronted by new harms and new conceptualizations of social institutional affairs. Interrogating these claims through an examination of the Anthropocene and technologies of cyberspace, we canvass debates and show that a shared focus of attention for the future of policing will be a decentralization of security and an expansion of private security governance professionals (both human and nonhuman).

Huff, J., Katz, C.M. & Webb, V.J. (2018), Understanding police officer resistance to body-worn cameras, Policing: An International Journal, 41, 4, 482-495. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2018-0038

Abstract

Purpose: Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been adopted in police agencies across the USA in efforts to increase police transparency and accountability. This widespread implementation has occurred despite some notable resistance to BWCs from police officers in some jurisdictions. This resistance poses a threat to the appropriate implementation of this technology and adherence to BWC policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that could explain variation in officer receptivity to BWCs.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors assess differences between officers who volunteered to wear a BWC and officers who resisted wearing a BWC as part of a larger randomized controlled trial of BWCs in the Phoenix Police Department. The authors specifically examine whether officer educational attainment, prior use of a BWC, attitudes toward BWCs, perceptions of organizational justice, support for procedural justice, noble cause beliefs, and official measures of officer activity predict receptivity to BWCs among 125 officers using binary logistic regression.

Findings: The findings indicate limited differences between BWC volunteers and resistors. Volunteers did have higher levels of educational attainment and were more likely to agree that BWCs improve citizen behaviors, relative to their resistant counterparts. Interestingly, there were no differences in perceptions of organizational justice, self-initiated activities, use of force, or citizen complaints between these groups.

Originality/value: Though a growing body of research has examined the impact of BWCs on officer use of force and citizen complaints, less research has examined officer attitudes toward the adoption of this technology. Extant research in this area largely focusses on general perceptions of BWCs, as opposed to officer characteristics that could predict receptivity to BWCs. This paper addresses this limitation in the research.

Hunton P. (2011), A rigorous approach to formalising the technical investigation stages of cybercrime and criminality within a UK law enforcement environment, Digital Investigation, 7, 3-4, 105-113, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2011.01.002.

Abstract

As the Internet evolves and continues to become a compelling part of our everyday lives, individuals, communities and nations alike are becoming increasingly exposed to the growing threat of the cybercriminal. The aim of this paper is to widen the discussion surrounding the many global issues and challenges of cybercrime investigation with specific reference to UK law enforcement. This paper first discusses the vast transnational landscape now associated with cybercrime and the rapid growth in cyber offences and other unacceptable Internet behaviours. The emerging characteristics of cybercrime are then presented as a Cybercrime Execution Stack. This logical model of cybercrime demonstrates an objective view and is aimed at identifying the common characteristics of cyber criminality that are likely to occur during the commission of an offence or other illicit behaviours. The concepts of a cybercrime investigation framework focussing on a UK law enforcement environment are introduced following the stages of Initiation, Modelling, Assessment, Impact and Risks, Planning, Tools, Action and Outcome. The benefits of such a framework are intended to provide a cybercrime investigator with a much richer understanding of the complex technical elements of networked technology and the Internet that must be considered when conducting a rigorous cybercrime investigation.

Joh, E. (2019). Policing the smart city. International Journal of Law in Context, 15, 2, 177-182. doi:10.1017/S1744552319000107

Abstract

What will be the consequences for policing as cities become increasingly ‘smarter’? The emerging questions about policing and the smart city have thus far focused primarily on the increased surveillance capacity that a highly networked urban setting provides for law enforcement. More cameras and sensors will mean more watching and less freedom from being watched. The perception of ubiquitous government surveillance might quell dissent and inhibit free expression. As a result, concerns about policing and the smart city echo other responses to surveillance technologies. This essay proposes a different analysis: as cities become ‘smarter’, they increasingly embed policing itself into the urban infrastructure. Policing is inherent to the smart city.

Joyce, N. M., Ramsey, C. H., & Stewart, J. K. (2013). Commentary on Smart Policing. Police Quarterly, 16, 3, 358–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611113497043

Abstract

Police professionals and practitioners offer reflections and commentary on the articles describing the Smart Policing Initiatives in Boston, Glendale, Los Angeles, and Lowell. According to the authors, police collaborations are vital to decision making regarding police policies and practices, yet they are not “natural.” Police–researcher collaborations require a conscious effort by both parties to overcome traditional organizational cultures and barriers to collaboration, and to establish, nurture, and maintain trust. The commentators also note the importance of technology and sophisticated analytics, as well as the key role played by problem-solving in Smart Policing Initiatives; a process that, again, requires a strong, trustful research collaboration.

Keenan, B. (2021), Automatic Facial Recognition and the Intensification of Police Surveillance. The Modern Law Review, 84: 886-897. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12623

Abstract

In R (on the application of Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police the Court of Appeal held the deployment of live automated facial recognition technology (AFR) by the South Wales Police Force (SWP) unlawful on three grounds. It violated the right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights because it lacked a suitable basis in law; the Data Protection Impact Assessment carried out under section 64 of the Data Protection Act 2018 was deficient for failing to assess the risks to the rights and freedoms of individuals processed by the system; and SWP failed to fulfil the Public Service Equality Duty imposed by section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 by failing to assess whether or not the software used in the AFR system was biased in relation to sex and race.

Klauser, F. (2021). Policing with the drone: Towards an aerial geopolitics of security. Security Dialogue. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010621992661

Abstract

This article explores in empirical detail the air-bound expectations, imaginations and practices arising from the acquisition of a new police drone in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. The study shows how drones are transforming the ways in which the aerial realm is lived as a context, object and perspective of policing. This tripartite structure is taken as a prism through which to advance novel understandings of the simultaneously elemental and affective, sensory, cognitive and practical dimensions of the aerial volumes within, on and through which drones act. The study of the ways in which these differing dimensions are bound together in how the police think about drones and what they do with them enables the development of an ‘aerial geopolitics of security’ that, from a security viewpoint, approaches interactions between power and space in a three-dimensional and cross-ontological way.

Gaelle, K. & Joëlle, V., (2018), How Could the Ethical Management of Health Data in the Medical Field Inform Police Use of DNA? Frontiers in Public Health, DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2018.00154

Abstract

Various events paved the way for the production of ethical norms regulating biomedical practices, from the Nuremberg Code (1947) —produced by the international trial of Nazi regime leaders and collaborators—and the Declaration of Helsinki by the World Medical Association (1964) to the invention of the term “bioethics” by American biologist (1). The ethics of biomedicine has given rise to various controversies—particularly in the fields of newborn screening (2), prenatal screening (3), and cloning (4)—resulting in the institutionalization of ethical questions in the biomedical world of genetics. In 1994, France passed legislation—commonly known as the “bioethics laws”— to regulate medical practices in genetics. The medical community has also organized itself in order to manage ethical issues relating to its decisions, with a view to handling “practices with many strong uncertainties” and enabling clinical judgments and decisions to be taken not by individual practitioners but rather by multidisciplinary groups drawing on different modes of judgment and forms of expertise (5). Thus, the biomedical approach to genetics has been characterized by various debates and the existence of public controversies. In the judicial sphere, the situation is very different. Since the end of the 1990s, developments in biomedical research have led to genetic data being used in police work and legal proceedings. Today, the forensic police are omnipresent in investigations: not just in complex criminal cases but also routinely in cases of “minor” or “mass” delinquency. Genetics, which certainly receives the most media coverage among the techniques involved (6), has taken on considerable importance (7). However, although very similar techniques are used in biomedicine and police work (DNA amplification, sequencing, etc.), the forms of collective management surrounding them are very different, as well as the ethico-legal frameworks and their evolution, as this text will demonstrate.

64. Kjellgren, R. (2022). Good Tech, Bad Tech: Policing Sex Trafficking with Big Data. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 11,1, 149-166. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.2139

Abstract

Technology is often highlighted in popular discourse as a causal factor in significantly increasing sex trafficking. However, there is a paucity of robust empirical evidence on sex trafficking and the extent to which technology facilitates it. This has not prevented the proliferation of beliefs that technology is essential for disrupting or even ending sex trafficking. Big data analytics and anti-trafficking software are used in this context to produce knowledge and intelligence on sex trafficking. This paper explores the challenges and limitations of understanding exploitation through algorithms and online data. It also highlights the key dimensions of exploitation ignored in big data-oriented research on sex trafficking. By doing so, the paper seeks to advance our theoretical understanding of the trafficking–‍technology nexus, and it is argued that sex trafficking must be reframed along a continuum of exploitation that is sensitive to the social context of exploitation within the sex market.

Koper, C. S., Lum, C., & Hibdon, J. (2015). The uses and impacts of mobile computing technology in hot spots policing. Evaluation Review, 39,6, 587–624.

Abstract

Background: Recent technological advances have much potential for improving police performance, but there has been little research testing whether they have made police more effective in reducing crime.

Objective: To study the uses and crime control impacts of mobile computing technology in the context of geographically focused “hot spots” patrols.

Research Design: An experiment was conducted using 18 crime hot spots in a suburban jurisdiction. Nine of these locations were randomly selected to receive additional patrols over 11 weeks. Researchers studied officers’ use of mobile information technology (IT) during the patrols using activity logs and interviews. Nonrandomized subgroup and multivariate analyses were employed to determine if and how the effects of the patrols varied based on these patterns.

Results: Officers used mobile computing technology primarily for surveillance and enforcement (e.g., checking automobile license plates and running checks on people during traffic stops and field interviews), and they noted both advantages and disadvantages to its use. Officers did not often use technology for strategic problem-solving and crime prevention. Given sufficient (but modest) dosages, the extra patrols reduced crime at the hot spots, but this effect was smaller in places where officers made greater use of technology.

Conclusions: Basic applications of mobile computing may have little if any direct, measurable impact on officers’ ability to reduce crime in the field. Greater training and emphasis on strategic uses of IT for problem-solving and crime prevention, and greater attention to its behavioral effects on officers, might enhance its application for crime reduction.

Koziarski, J. and Lee, J.R. (2020), Connecting evidence-based policing and cybercrime, Policing: An International Journal, 43, 1, 198-211. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-07-2019-0107

Abstract

Purpose: This paper explores the various challenges associated with policing cybercrime, arguing that a failure to improve law enforcement responses to cybercrime may negatively impact their institutional legitimacy as reliable first responders. Further, the paper makes preliminary links between cybercrime and the paradigm of evidence-based policing (EBP), providing suggestions on how the paradigm can assist, develop, and improve a myriad of factors associated with policing cybercrime.

Design/methodology/approach: Three examples of prominent cybercrime incidents will be explored under the lens of institutional theory: the cyberextortion of Amanda Todd; the hacking of Ashley Madison; and the 2013 Target data breach.

Findings: EBP approaches to cybercrime can improve the effectiveness of existing and future approaches to cybercrime training, recruitment, as well as officers' preparedness and awareness of cybercrime.

Research limitations/implications: Future research will benefit from determining what types of training work at the local, state/provincial, and federal level, as well as evaluating both current and new cybercrime policing programs and strategies.

Practical implications: EBP approaches to cybercrime have the potential to improve police responses to cybercrime calls for service, save police resources, improve police–public relations during calls for service, and improve police legitimacy.

Originality/value: This paper links cybercrime policing to the paradigm of EBP, highlighting the need for evaluating and implementing effective evidence-based approaches to policing cybercrime.

Kuo, P. F., & Lord, D., (2019), A promising example of smart policing: A cross-national study of the effectiveness of a data-driven approach to crime and traffic safety, Case studies on Transport Policy, 7, 4, 761-771. DOI: 10.1016/j.cstp.2019.08.005

Abstract:

Smart policing emphasizes the combination of existing interdisciplinary datasets, improvement in analysis procedures, and design of more efficient policing strategies. One promising example, the Data-Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS), integrates traffic crash and crime data into the design of more efficient patrol routes, ensuring higher visibility traffic enforcement. This new method allows the police to more effectively allocate their limited resources. Although the DDACTS model has significantly reduced crime and crash rates in the United States, it is necessary to thoroughly study its effects before applying it in other parts of the world; the factors that influence crime, crashes, and police patrol systems in the United States may differ significantly from those in, for instance, Asia. In the present research, Taiwan was chosen as an initial area of study because of the nation's open data policy and good quality of the data available. This study focused on two key differences between the United States and Taiwan: (1) the cluster distributions of crash and crime events, and (2) possible effectiveness of DDACTS in these two regions. ArcGIS was used to calculate point cluster patterns and identify hotspots. Although the point patterns for crimes and crashes varied greatly between Texas and Taiwan, all pairs of crash and crime hotspots were in close proximity to one another. Thus, DDACTS may be effective for improving patrol efficiency in Taiwan, despite the nation's significant socioeconomic differences with the United States Consequently, the results show that DDACTS may be efficient in various regions with different socioeconomic structures than the United States, such as countries in Asia. In the future, researchers from other nations may be able to use these results to revise and adjust their own DDACTS patrol plans.

L’Hoiry, X., Moretti, A. & Antonopoulos, G.A. (2021), Identifying sex trafficking in Adult Services Websites: an exploratory study with a British police force. Trends Organ Crim. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-021-09414-1

Abstract

Human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and modern slavery have experienced an unprecedented boom over the past decade due to the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly in digital and networked environments. These developments have created new opportunities for human exploitation and illegal profiteering. Adult Services Websites (ASWs), online platforms on which sex workers post profiles advertising their services, are a key conduit for human traffickers to exploit their victims. Alongside profiles of independent sex workers, traffickers are posting false ASW profiles, advertising the forced services of their victims and camouflaging these false profiles amongst legitimate adverts. In response, police practitioners are proactively investigating ASWs to identify suspect profiles. A key obstacle for practitioners, however, is to distinguish between ASW profiles posted by independent, consenting sex workers advertising their services, and those posted by traffickers exploiting their victims. The exploratory study presented in this paper seeks to address this particular challenge. Working with a British police force, the researchers in this study gathered existing knowledge on the traffickers' use of ASW profiles to create a bespoke tool of analysis, the Sexual Trafficking Identification Matrix (STIM). The aim of this tool has been to identify 'risk indicators' on ASW profiles and to flag these for potential police investigation. This paper presents the results of this exploratory study and its four stages. Furthermore, more broadly, it reflects on the use of evidence-based tools by law enforcement to tackle complex domains of offending such as those of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

69. Laufs, J., & Borrion, H. (2021). Technological innovation in policing and crime prevention: Practitioner perspectives from London. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 24, 2: 190–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/14613557211064053

Abstract

Digital technology now plays a critical role in policing and security management, with policing apps, drones and body-worn cameras potentially being game-changers. Adoption of such technologies is, however, not straightforward and depends upon the buy-in of senior management teams and users. This study examines what obstacles practitioners face in the procurement, deployment and use of crime prevention and detection technologies. The issue is explored through a number of expert interviews conducted with practitioners in London between August 2019 and March 2020. This work expands previous, more theoretical, literature on the topic by adding a practical perspective and advances the understanding of issues faced in innovation processes and their management. We identified a variety of issues and obstacles to technological innovation for policing. These include the deployment of new systems at the cost of old ones, lack of financial and political support, issues in public–private partnerships, and public acceptability. Although individual practitioners may have the expertise and willingness to unleash the full potential of surveillance and crime-reduction technologies, they are usually restrained by institutional rules or, in some cases, inefficiencies. In terms of the latter, this study especially highlights the negative impact of a lack of technical interoperability of different systems, missing inter- and intra-agency communication, and unclear guidelines and procedures.

Lindsay, R., Jackson, W., & Cooke, L. (2014) Empirical evaluation of a technology acceptance model for mobile policing, Police Practice and Research, 15, 5, 419-436, DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2013.829602

Abstract

Technology acceptance in policing is under-researched, yet mobile devices are widely implemented across UK police forces. The paper validates a mobile technology acceptance model (M-TAM) developed in a single police force. It shows that the M-TAM is transferrable to other UK police forces, and potentially worldwide. The influence of local supervision and fit of technology to roles and tasks are shown to be the most influential factors. Factors beyond the technology itself, such as the influence of peers and involvement of operational officers in technology investment decisions, must be considered to accommodate the strong cultural barriers in policing.

Lum, C., Koper, C. S., & Willis, J. (2017). Understanding the Limits of Technology’s Impact on Police Effectiveness. Police Quarterly, 20, 2, 135–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611116667279

Abstract

Technology has become a major source of expenditure and innovation in law enforcement and is assumed to hold great potential for enhancing police work. But does technology achieve these expectations? The current state of research on technology in policing is unclear about the links between technologies and outcomes such as work efficiencies, effectiveness in crime control, or improved police–community relationships. In this article, we present findings from a mixed-methods, multiagency study that examines factors that may mediate the connection between technology adoption and outcome effectiveness in policing. We find that police view technology through technological and organizational frames determined by traditional and reactive policing approaches. These frames may limit technology’s potential in the current reform era and cause unintended consequences.

Lum, C., Stoltz, M., Koper, C. S., & Scherer, J. A., (2019). Research on body-worn cameras: What we know, what we need to know. Criminology & Public Policy 18: 93– 118. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12412

Abstract

In this article, we provide the most comprehensive narrative review to date of the research evidence base for body-worn cameras (BWCs). Seventy empirical studies of BWCs were examined covering the impact of cameras on officer behavior, officer perceptions, citizen behavior, citizen perceptions, police investigations, and police organizations. Although officers and citizens are generally supportive of BWC use, BWCs have not had statistically significant or consistent effects on most measures of officer and citizen behavior or citizens’ views of police. Expectations and concerns surrounding BWCs among police leaders and citizens have not yet been realized by and large in the ways anticipated by each. Additionally, despite the large growth in BWC research, there continues to be a lacuna of knowledge on the impact that BWCs have on police organizations and police–citizen relationships more generally. Policy Implications - Regardless of the evidence-base, BWCs have already rapidly diffused into law enforcement, and many agencies will continue to adopt them. Policy implications from available evidence are not clear-cut, but most likely BWCs will not be an easy panacea for improving police performance, accountability, and relationships with citizens. To maximize the positive impacts of BWCs, police and researchers will need to give more attention to the ways and contexts (organizational and community) in which BWCs are most beneficial or harmful. They will also need to address how BWCs can be used in police training, management, and internal investigations to achieve more fundamental organizational changes with the long-term potential to improve police performance, accountability, and legitimacy in the community.

Lumsden, K. (2013) Policing the roads: traffic cops, ‘Boy Racers’ and anti-social behaviour, Policing and Society, 23, 2, 204-221, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2012.696642

Abstract

This article explores the policing and regulation of young motorists known in the United Kingdom as boy racers'. It demonstrates how police officers' definitional decisions in relation to driving behaviours were influenced by a range of exogenous and endogenous factors, which subsequently shaped the landscape of enforcement and interactions with the community and drivers. A shift over time in the nature of the problem due to urban regeneration, innovations in the technology of the motor car and the availability of anti-social behaviour legislation impacted upon the policing of urban space. The strategies employed in order to police the culture and the related urban space were reminiscent of a deeper policing tradition wherein managing incivilities and local problems is part of the community policing perspective. Data is presented from semi-structured interviews with police, residents and boy racers', and ethnographic fieldwork with the drivers in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Lumsden , K., & Black, A. (2020) ‘Sorry, I’m dead, it’s too late now’: barriers faced by D/deaf citizens when accessing police services, Disability & Society, DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2020.1829555

Abstract

Police organisations have been slow with regards to the integration of services which are accessible and responsive to the needs of D/deaf citizens. This qualitative study explored the barriers which D/deaf citizens face when accessing police. It considered the impact of police initiatives designed to widen the avenues through which D/deaf people can contact them including information and communication technologies (i.e. Emergency SMS Text Services and Video Relay Services) and interpreters. The study involved focus groups with D/deaf citizens, interviews with police officers, and a review of police practices in England. The findings focus on cultural, technological and interactional barriers, and demonstrate that despite indications that members of this community are likely to be vulnerable in terms of victimisation, current policies, procedures and training do not address access requirements. Points of interest This article looks at the barriers faced by D/deaf citizens when accessing police services. Age, ethnicity and disability impacted on D/deaf citizens' access to services and their use of technologies to contact the police. D/deaf citizens felt that more work needed to be done to raise greater deaf awareness amongst police officers and to avoid misunderstandings. Some improvements in police service provision have been made, but a better engagement strategy is needed to build D/deaf citizens' confidence in the police. The research recommends that when designing police services and technologies, the focus must include the needs of D/deaf citizens.

Lumsden, K., & Goode, J. (2018). Policing Research and the Rise of the ‘Evidence-Base’: Police Officer and Staff Understandings of Research, its Implementation and ‘What Works.’ Sociology, 52, 4, 813–829. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038516664684

Abstract

Despite the pitfalls identified in previous critiques of the evidence-based practice movement in education, health, medicine and social care, recent years have witnessed its spread to the realm of policing. This article considers the rise of evidence-based policy and practice as a dominant discourse in policing in the UK, and the implications this has for social scientists conducting research in this area, and for police officers and staff. Social scientists conducting research with police must consider organisational factors impacting upon police work, as well as the wider political agendas which constrain it – in this case, the ways in which the adoption of evidence-based policing and the related ‘gold standard’ used to evaluate research act as a ‘technology of power’ to shape the nature of policing/research. The discussion draws on semi-structured interviews conducted with police officers and staff from police forces in England.

Mastrobuoni, G., (2020), Crime is Terribly Revealing: Information Technology and Police Productivity, The Review of Economic Studies, 87, 6, 2727–2753, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa009

Abstract

An increasing number of police departments use information technology (IT) to optimize patrolling strategies, yet little is known about its effectiveness in preventing crime. Based on quasi-random access to “predictive policing,” this study shows that IT improves police productivity as measured by crime clearance rates. Thanks to detailed information on individual incidents and offender-level identifiers it also shows that criminals strategies are predictable. Moreover, the introduction of predictive policing coincides with a large negative trend-discontinuity in crime rates. The benefit–cost ratio of this IT innovation appears to be large.

McGuire, M. R. (2021) The laughing policebot: automation and the end of policing, Policing and Society, 31, 1, 20-36, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2020.1810249

Abstract

Though there has always been a close relationship between professional policing and technology, the sheer scale of operational dependence upon new technologies has begun to raise a number of concerns. In this paper I trace 3 kinds of contrasting dynamics in the perception of the policing/technology relationship. A first view has tended to see this relationship in largely unproblematic, positive terms, one which generally results in 'more efficient', cost-effective forms of policing. Against this, a more sceptical position can also be traced. On this view, whilst enhanced access to technology often benefits police performance, it has often also come with enhanced opportunities for misuse which threaten dystopian scenarios of coercion, denial of rights and - at worst - the spectre of technologised police states. I argue that a third view is now plausible, one that has been far less discussed, even though it may present the greatest challenge to the viability of policing as we have known it. For the emergent technologies now reshaping policing often involve automated tools like predictive algorithms or facial recognition systems. This raises the question of what limits to the automation of policing there may be and whether automation will ultimately entail the 'end' of professional police forces as once envisioned by Peel.

Meijer, A., & Thaens, M. (2013) Social media strategies: Understanding the differences between North American police departments, Government Information Quarterly, 30, 4, 343-350, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2013.05.023.

Abstract

Within a short timeframe, social media have become to be widely used in government organizations. Social media gurus assume that the transformational capacities of social media result in similar communication strategies in different organizations. According to them, government is transforming into a user-generated state. This paper investigates this claim empirically by testing the claim of convergence in social media practices in three North-American police departments (Boston, Washington DC and Toronto). The research shows that the social media strategies are widely different: the Boston Police Department has developed a ‘push strategy’ while the Metropolitan Police Department in DC has developed a ‘push and pull strategy and the Toronto Police Service a ‘networking strategy’. The paper concludes that a combination of contextual and path-dependency factors accounts for differences in the emerging social media strategies of government organizations. Social media have a logic of their own but this logic only manifests itself if it lands on fertile soil in a government bureaucracy.

Merola, L. M., & Lum, C. (2014) Predicting public support for the use of license plate recognition technology by police, Police Practice and Research, 15, 5, 373-388, DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2013.814906

Abstract

The use of license plate recognition technology (LPR) by police is becoming increasingly common. LPR may be used for many purposes, ranging from stolen vehicle enforcement to more complex surveillance and predictive functions. Existing research does not examine community support for this technology, despite its potential to impact police legitimacy. Results from the first community LPR survey are presented and multinomial logistic regression models of citizen support for the technology are developed. Regression results suggest that a number of factors significantly predict citizen support for LPR use, including increased trust in police and the belief that LPR information is public information.

Milner, M. N., Rice, S., Winter, S. R., & Anania, E. C. (2020) The effect of political affiliation on support for police drone monitoring in the United States. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, 7, 2, 129-144. https://doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2018-0026

Abstract

As unmanned aerial systems grow in popularity, police agencies are using this technology to provide aerial support for officers; however, public opinion could affect the success of this technological collaboration. Using social identity theory, researchers may be able to predict people’s support for various government projects. In a series of studies, participants were presented with a brief description of a proposal for using police drones to monitor political protests. Additional information was provided about the type of protest and type of person attending the protest. In general, conservatives were more supportive of police drones monitoring protests compared to liberals. However, this support was moderated by the type of participant and the type of protest; that is, support dropped when a participant believed that the protest supported their own political party beliefs. The current study provides a foundation for understanding what factors affect the public’s support of police incorporating drones into their daily workforce in the US.

Miranda, D. (2022) Body-worn cameras ‘on the move’: exploring the contextual, technical and ethical challenges in policing practice, Policing and Society, 32, 1, 18-34, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2021.1879074

Abstract

The body-worn camera (BWC), an audio and video recording device, has been increasingly adopted by law enforcement across the globe. Drawing on a qualitative study, this paper will explore the use of these mobile devices in the UK and examine the challenges that have been faced during its implementation in two British police forces. In particular, we will discuss how these cameras move with the police officer's bodily movements (both intentionally and unintentionally) and are used for policing purposes in different settings (such as urban and rural contexts or different operational units). Based on a set of semi-structured interviews with 26 police officers, this article will explore the contextual, technical and ethical challenges that hinder the use of BWCs in such settings. This study concludes that these practical and techno-social challenges are often interlinked. The context of use of these cameras and how they operate technically are connected, often raising significant ethical issues particularly for data management and storage. Ultimately it is argued that the operational perspective of the frontline officer is invaluable when designing and implementing technologies so they are policeman-proof.

Moon, H., Choi, H., Lee, J., & Lee, K. S. (2017), Attitudes in Korea toward Introducing Smart Policing Technologies: Differences between the General Public and Police Officers. Sustainability, 9, 10, 1921. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101921

Abstract

This study analyzes different attitudes toward introduction of smart policing technologies in cybercrime policing among the Korean public and police. Policing is essential for a sustainable community. Technological advances in policing have both positive and negative aspects, making it essential to investigate perceptions of both public and police when introducing smart policing technologies. A discrete choice experiment was undertaken to survey preferences of the public and police toward introduction of such technologies and conduct simulation analysis to compare changes in the acceptance of various scenarios. The study divides cybercrime policing into prevention and investigation. The sample included 500 members of the public and 161 police officers. The results show that the public thinks an increase in yearly taxes and invasion of privacy are the most important factors. Conversely, the police think factors enhancing the efficiency of policing are most important. Moreover, when smart policing technologies are introduced, the public and police perceive more utility in the prevention and investigation of cybercrime, respectively. Few studies in this field separate the prevention and investigation of crimes, or compare perceptions of the public and police toward the introduction of smart policing technologies. This study’s quantitative analysis provides insights lacking in previous literature.

Mugari, I., & Obioha, E. E. (2021), Predictive Policing and Crime Control in The United States of America and Europe: Trends in a Decade of Research and the Future of Predictive Policing. Social Sciences, 10, 6, 234. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10060234

Abstract

There has been a significant focus on predictive policing systems, as law enforcement agents embrace modern technology to forecast criminal activity. Most developed nations have implemented predictive policing, albeit with mixed reactions over its effectiveness. Whilst at its inception, predictive policing involved simple heuristics and algorithms, it has increased in sophistication in the ever-changing technological environment. This paper, which is based on a literature survey, examines predictive policing over the last decade (2010 to 2020). The paper examines how various nations have implemented predictive policing and also documents the impediments to predictive policing. The paper reveals that despite the adoption of predictive software applications such as PredPol, Risk Terrain Modelling, HunchLab, PreMap, PRECOBS, Crime Anticipation System, and Azevea, there are several impediments that have militated against the effectiveness of predictive policing, and these include low predictive accuracy, limited scope of crimes that can be predicted, high cost of predictive policing software, flawed data input, and the biased nature of some predictive software applications. Despite these challenges, the paper reveals that there is consensus by the majority of the researchers on the importance of predictive algorithms on the policing landscape.

Murphy, J. R., & Estcourt, D. (2020) Surveillance and the state: body-worn cameras, privacy and democratic policing, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 32, 3, 368-378, DOI: 10.1080/10345329.2020.1813383

Abstract

Body-worn cameras are increasingly being used by police forces and other government agencies across Australia to record interactions with suspects, witnesses and other members of the public. The cameras are thought to be capable of deterring officer misconduct, improving civilian behaviour and capturing valuable evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Unfortunately, in Australia, little public or academic attention has been directed to the privacy implications of these devices. This is in contrast to the United States, where there is vigorous debate about the potential for body-worn cameras to intrude upon the privacy of vulnerable individuals and to contribute to the over-surveillance of minority communities. One promising response to privacy concerns in the United States has been to democratise the rules around body-worn cameras by involving the public in the formulation of police guidelines. This Comment suggests that Australia should similarly involve the public in body-worn camera policy formulation.

O'Brien, M. (2009) Still on the road? Technology and historical perspectives on counter-cultural policing, Information & Communications Technology Law, 18, 3, 285-296, DOI: 10.1080/13600830903424726

Abstract

Technological development in the last 20 years has had a significant input into what is policed and how such policing takes place. This article seeks to explore the policing of a part of the counter-culture in the United Kingdom, the so-called 'New Age Traveller', and in doing so highlight the impact of technology in relation to public order control.

86. Oswald, M. (2022), A three-pillar approach to achieving trustworthy and accountable use of AI and emerging technology in policing in England and Wales: Lessons from the West Midlands data ethics model, European Journal of Law and Technology, 13, 1: https://ejlt.org/index.php/ejlt/article/view/883/1045

Abstract

As the first of its kind in UK policing, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and West Midlands Police data ethics committee is an ongoing experiment in scrutinising and advising upon AI policing projects proposed for real operational environments, with the aim of putting people’s rights at the heart of technological development. Using a qualitative action research approach akin to an ‘observing participant’, this paper suggests that lessons can be learned from the committee’s activities in three main areas: i) the contribution to effective accountability in respect of ongoing data analytics projects; ii) the importance of the legal and scientific aspects of the interdisciplinary analysis; and iii) the role of necessity and the human rights framework in guiding the committee’s ethical discussion.

Nichols, J.,Wire, S., Wu, X., Sloan, M., & Scherer, A. (2019) Translational criminology and its importance in policing: a review, Police Practice and Research, 20, 6, 537-551, DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2019.1657625

Abstract

Translational criminology is a decision-making perspective that emphasizes the dynamic coproduction of evidence by researchers and practitioners, focusing on obstacles to and facilitators of evidence generation and utilization. It incorporates several other data-driven decision-making models, including evidence-based policy making. This review suggests that the availability of empirical research is no longer the most significant impediment to evidence-based policing. Rather, translating and implementing knowledge about 'what works' in policing has arisen as the field's primary barrier to securing the effectiveness and efficiency improvements of research and data utilization. This article orients readers to translational criminology's various components and explores their applications. Focusing on four central considerations, this review explores the roles of researcher practitioner partnerships, policy, technology, and government in developing and sustaining translational efforts in policing. The review concludes by acknowledging challenges to fostering a translational perspective in policing, and offers examples of where it has been applied with success.

Neiva, L., Granja, R., & Machado, H. (2022) Big Data applied to criminal investigations: expectations of professionals of police cooperation in the European Union, Policing and Society, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2022.2029433

Abstract

Big Data is seen as an increasingly important tool to support policing activities, define security governance policies and assist criminal investigations. Although significant literature has explored the predictive capabilities of Big Data, there has been less focus on the uses of Big Data in criminal investigations, focused on detection and apprehension that occur after a crime has been committed. This article aims to fill this gap through the lens of expectations of professionals involved in police cooperation in the European Union. Based upon a set of qualitative interviews, our analysis explores these professionals' expectations for the application of Big Data techniques in criminal investigations by using DNA data held in national criminal DNA databases and, therefore, potentially increasing the interoperability between genetic and non-genetic data. Our results reveal a flexible repertoire of interpretation of the expectations for the uses of Big Data in criminal investigations and its associated potential risks and benefits. The perceived benefits relate to expectations for Big Data's potential to advance cold cases and strengthen the interoperability of multiple datasets in ways that produce intelligence valuable for criminal investigations. Perceived risks concern the difficulties associated with investigating large sets of data, the potential for enforcing genetic discrimination, and threatening privacy and human rights.

Nellis, M. (2014), Upgrading electronic monitoring, downgrading probation: Reconfiguring 'offender management' in England and Wales, European Journal of Probation, 6, 2, 169-191, DOI: 10.1177/2066220314540572

Abstract:

England and Wales is currently privatizing most of its Probation Service and simultaneously planning to create the largest and most advanced electronic monitoring (EM) scheme in the world, using combined GPS tracking and radio frequency technology. Downgrading one, upgrading the other. Using a mix of published and unpublished sources, discussions with some key players in these developments, (and a 'critical policy analysis' perspective), this article begins by documenting the post-2010 development of GPS tracking, and the emergence of strong police support for its large-scale use. It notes the role of a right-wing think tank, Policy Exchange, in promoting the view that the GPS-based tracking of offenders' movements is an intrinsically superior form of 'electronic monitoring' that should fully replace the discredited but still prevailing radio frequency EM, which can only restrict people to a single location. In the course of devising a third contract with commercial organizations to deliver EM, it transpired that the incumbent providers had been systematically overcharging the government for their services. Although a public scandal, and a series of official enquires - summarized here - resulted from this, the general momentum behind the outsourcing of penal interventions has not been slowed: the Conservative-led Coalition government is pursuing a relentlessly neoliberal agenda, driven far more by financial imperatives and technological preferences than anything that makes proper penal sense. The creation of a large, advanced GPS-based EM programme may not in fact work out in practice, but the government's readiness to envision it shows where untrammelled neoliberalism points in respect of 'offender management' techniques. Although England and Wales have always been anomalous in their fully privatized delivery of EM, its preparedness to invest massively in GPS tracking and to simultaneously sacrifice the state-based Probation Service should serve to warn other European services of the penal challenges that neoliberalism may present them with.

Neyroud, P., & Disley, E. (2008), Technology and Policing: Implications for Fairness and Legitimacy, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2, 2, 226–232.

Abstract

In this article, Peter Neyroud, Chief Executive of the NPIA, and Emma Disley, DPhil student at the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, argue that factual questions about the effectiveness of new technologies (such as DNA evidence, mobile identification technologies and computer databases) in detecting and preventing crime should not, and cannot, be separated from ethical and social questions surrounding the impact which these technologies might have upon civil liberties. This is due to the close inter-relationship between the effectiveness of the police and public perceptions of police legitimacy—which may potentially be damaged if new technologies are not deployed carefully. The authors argue that strong, transparent management and oversight of these technologies are essential, and suggest some factors to which a regime of governance should attend.

Noriega, M., (2020) The application of artificial intelligence in police interrogations: An analysis addressing the proposed effect AI has on racial and gender bias, cooperation, and false confessions, Futures, 117, 102510, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2019.102510.

Abstract

Research presented in this study examines the potentiality of artificial intelligence as an interrogator within a police interrogation to promote a non-biased environment in an effort to mitigate the ongoing racial and gender divide in statistics regarding false confessions. Ideally, artificial intelligence supplementation may help promote the elicitation of non-coerced, voluntary confessions. This study suggests that the racial and gender bias influencing false confessions may be due to the two fold bias occurring within the interrogator-to-suspect dynamic, referenced in this study as “the Bias-Uncooperative Loop.” It argues that applying artificial intelligence within the interrogation room may minimize the two fold bias occurring in the dynamic. It suggests the potential for cooperation between the two parties can be conditioned by programmable similarity; whereby artificial intelligence can mimic the racial, ethnic and/or cultural similarities of the suspect in question. This is reflected in research in different arenas (not inclusive to interrogations) to have an effect on enhanced comfortability and cooperation with AI. This paper assumes similar results within interrogations.

O'Connor, C. D. (2017) The police on Twitter: image management, community building, and implications for policing in Canada, Policing and Society, 27, 8, 899-912, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2015.1120731

Abstract

Technology has always played an important role in policing. In recent years, various types of new social networking sites have become important tools for police departments. For example, social networking sites have been used to help solve crimes and communicate directly with the public circumventing the traditional news media. At the same time, the public can more easily communicate directly with, or about, the police. This article examines the use of Twitter by police departments on an everyday basis. Drawing on a content analysis of Canadian police departments' Twitter accounts, this article discusses the types of information sent out to the public (i.e. on crimes/investigations, police work, safety/traffic, and community) as well as police attempts to interact with citizens (i.e. through invitations to attend events, asking for responses, and responding to and/or mentioning others). The findings suggest that Twitter was used to help manage the image of the police and build community. The implications of these findings are also discussed.

Oh, G., Zhang, Y., & Greenleaf, R. G. (2021). Measuring Geographic Sentiment toward Police Using Social Media Data. American Journal of Criminal Justice, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09614-z

Abstract

Using Twitter messages published online from October 2018 to June 2019, and opinion mining (OM) technology, the current study analyzes the geographic sentiments toward police in 82 metropolitan areas within the United States. Building on the frameworks of the neighborhood social contextual models, the construct validity of “sentiment toward the police” is assessed via its relationship with the features of various metropolitan areas. Results of the regression analysis indicate that the violent crime rate, racial heterogeneity, and economic disadvantage significantly affect sentiment toward the police. Our results suggest that opinion mining of social media can be an important instrument to understand public sentiment toward the police.

Page, A., & Jones, C. (2021) Weaponizing neutrality: the entanglement of policing, affect, and surveillance technologies, Feminist Media Studies, DOI: 10.1080/14680777.2021.1939400

Abstract

Over the past decade, U.S. police departments have incorporated media technologies that promise to make policing more efficient and "race-neutral," including body and dash cameras, drones, and predictive analytics. Such tools are positioned as unbiased and therefore reliable instruments that will hold both the state and citizens accountable during police interactions. This neutrality occurs along axes of race and affect, and presumes these technologies as anti-emotional third-party witnesses to exchanges between the state and public. In this article, we connect the expansion of high-tech policing to the racialized and gendered management of affect, underscoring how the supposed accountability offered by these technologies does not upend the disciplining of emotion. We examine the relationship between affective governance and media technologies through an analysis of Diamond Reynolds' Facebook Live video of police killing her boyfriend Philando Castile, which we theorize alongside the dash camera video of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old Black woman who was pulled over by a police officer and arrested, and who allegedly died by suicide in jail three days later. We argue that taken together, the videos demonstrate the ongoing racialized and gendered imperative that Black women regulate their emotional reactions to state violence both despite and because of the presence of recording devices.

Parmar, A. (2019). Policing Migration and Racial Technologies, The British Journal of Criminology, 59, 4, 938–957, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz006

Abstract

The merger between familiar modes of policing with the impetus for migration control is reorganizing the racial politics of policing in unexpected ways. In the aim to decipher who is a citizen, who is a foreign national offender and who is eligible for deportation on the grounds of criminality, the role of criminal records agencies has expanded further into the work of policing, as have the collaborative working partnerships between immigration and the police. In this article, I discuss the findings from research, which examines the policing of migration in the United Kingdom, and specifically Operation Nexus, which brings together ordinary police work and migration control. I focus on how technologies of border control are imbricated with everyday police practices that are often influenced by race, thereby deepening the reach of racial technologies and their capacity to monitor and exclude racial others.

Parry, M. M. Moule, R. K., & Dario, L. M. (2019) Technology-Mediated Exposure to Police–Citizen Encounters: A Quasi-Experimental Assessment of Consequences for Citizen Perceptions, Justice Quarterly, 36, 3, 412-436, DOI: 10.1080/07418825.2017.1374435

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that recent video-recorded police-citizen encounters have undermined police legitimacy and fueled civil unrest across the United States. Drawing from the process-based model of policing, social cognitive theory, and past research on media effects, we assess the influence of viewing cell phone videos of police-citizen encounters on perceptions of law enforcement. Using quasi-experimental methods and video footage of an actual police-citizen encounter captured on cell phones, the effects of viewing these videos are assessed using a series of repeated measure ANOVAs. Results indicate that viewing cell phone videos of police-citizen encounters significantly impacts perceptions of law enforcement, though little evidence of differing effects based on point-of-view, number of video exposures, or ordering of video exposures was found. The process-based model of policing should consider further incorporating the contributions of technology to provide a more holistic account of the factors influencing perceptions of police.

Paterson, C., (2007). 'Street-level Surveillance': Human Agency and the Electronic Monitoring of Offenders, Surveillance and Society, 4, 4, 314-328.

Abstract:

Recent years have witnessed an increase in new 'technologies of control' that decrease reliance upon labour intensive forms of policing. The electronic monitoring of offenders represents just one section of the expanding industry in 'techno-corrections' that incorporates elements of the private security, military and telecommunications industries. The surveillance capacity generated by these industries has diverted attention away from the role of human agency in the implementation of surveillance services. This paper is concerned with the reliance of 'technologies of control' upon 'street-level surveillance' which involves a shift in focus away from the capacity of surveillance technologies and towards the actions of agents of control, offenders and the local community, in ensuring the successful operation of electronic monitoring services.

Paterson, C. (2017), Tagging re-booted! Imagining the potential of victim-oriented electronic monitoring, Probation Journal, 64, 3, 226-241 DOI: 10.1177/0264550517711278.

Abstract:

Electronic monitoring (EM) technologies or 'tagging', as the ankle bracelet is known, have been subject to much experimentation across the criminal justice landscape, yet there remains a good deal of conjecture concerning the purpose and subsequent effectiveness of these technologies. This article calls for renewed consideration of both the potential and pitfalls of radio frequency (RF) and global positioning by satellite (GPS) EM technologies and provides a victim-oriented perspective on future developments in EM. The author proposes further interrogation of the penal assumptions that underpin thinking about the use of EM as well as analysis of recent police experimentation with the technology. The article concludes with a call for a clear and strong probation voice in the renewed debates about EM that can guide and support ethical and effective policy and practice.

Paterson, C., & Clamp, K. (2014), Innovating Responses to Managing Risk: Exploring the Potential of a Victim-Focused Policing Strategy, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 8, 1, 51-58. DOI: 10.1093/police/pat028

Abstract:

This article explores the potential benefits of developing partnerships with victims in managing threats to their personal safety via smart police use of electronic monitoring technologies. The central premise for this position is that traditional surveillance responses that seek to manage offending behaviour have limited effectiveness and do not create a sense of security for victims. Using a pilot project currently underway in Buenos Aires, we extrapolate the potential implications of a victim-focused strategy for the policing role and the effectiveness of responses to high-risk repeat offences. The pilot project seeks to enhance victims' sense of their own safety, reduce the risk of repeat violence and develop indirect benefits for police legitimacy. Utilized in this way, there is significant potential for electronic monitoring to facilitate smarter policing and demand reduction.

Powell, A., & Henry, N. (2018) Policing technology-facilitated sexual violence against adult victims: police and service sector perspectives, Policing and Society, 28, 3, 291-307, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2016.1154964

Abstract

To date, the majority of attention to technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) in both policy and practice has been on child sexual exploitation and abuse. Far less attention has been paid to digital sexualised violence against adult members of the population. The aim of this paper is to examine police responses to these serious and emerging harms, which we identify as including the following: (1) online sexual harassment; (2) gender and sexuality-based harassment; (3) cyberstalking; (4) image-based sexual exploitation (including revenge pornography'); and (5) the use of communications technologies to coerce a victim into an unwanted sexual act. While these are variously criminal offences, unlawful civil behaviours or not subject to criminal or civil sanctions or remedies, we claim in this paper that they exist on a continuum of violence and yet the real' harms of TFSV are frequently minimised in practice. Drawing on 30 stakeholder interviews with police, legal services and domestic and sexual violence service sector providers, we explore the issues, challenges and promises of law enforcement in this area. We argue that greater attention must be paid to recognising the serious harms of digital abuse and harassment; the role of criminal law in responding to these behaviours; and the importance of investing in police resources to adequately tackle these growing behaviours in a constantly shifting and amorphous digital era.

Ray, R., Marsh, K., & Powelson, C. (2017), Can Cameras Stop the Killings? Racial Differences in Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Body-Worn Cameras in Police Encounters. Sociological Forum, 32: 1032-1050. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12359

Abstract

Recent killings of blacks by police have renewed a national discussion about crime, racism, unjust treatment, and implicit bias. Outfitting police officers with body-worn cameras (BWC) is heralded by federal and state lawmakers as one solution to providing more transparency during police encounters. Missing from this discussion is what everyday citizens think about the potential effectiveness of BWC. Using data on residents of Prince George's County, Maryland, this study explores racial differences in views about police treatment and the effectiveness of BWC. We find that nonwhites report more fear of and mistreatment by the police than whites. Regarding BWC, we find that respondents are either supporters or skeptics. On one hand, respondents either believe that BWC will illuminate the difficulties of policing—police supporters—or create more transparency to hold officers more accountable for their actions—citizen supporters. On the other hand, skeptics fall into one of two types—respondents who think that BWC may put police officers more at risks—privacy skeptics—or those who do not see BWC as structurally changing the power dynamics between citizens and police officers—structural skeptics. We conclude by discussing how BWC may operate as a solution to improve interactions between citizens and the police but not necessarily alter power relations.

Ridgeway, G. (2018), Policing in the Era of Big Data, Annual Review of Criminology, 1, 401-419, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-062217-114209

Abstract

Fifty years ago, the 1967 President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice urged the rapid adoption of information technology to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness of the criminal justice system, including policing. They predicted that we could make great progress on the challenge of crime if only we could deliver the right information to the right police officer at the right time. In this twenty-first century era of Big Data, all the technologies described in the 1967 Commission report are widely available and accessible to police departments. This review characterizes what Big Data means for policing, discusses the technologies making Big Data possible, describes how police departments are putting Big Data to use, and assesses how close we are coming to realizing the vision offered in 1967. Although police may be rich in data, we still need to improve the extraction of information and knowledge from that data and put them to use to decrease crime and improve clearance rates.

Rogers, C., & Scally, E. J. (2018), Police use of technology: insights from the literature, International Journal of Emergency Services, 7, 2, 100-110. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJES-03-2017-0012

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider the existing literature surrounding the use of technology in today’s society to inform future developments across emergency services. Reference to the Police Service in particular will have a resonance for many other public agencies who are utilising more and more technology.

Design/methodology/approach: Literature from a policing background will be reviewed to discover the positive impacts and benefits attached to its use, the potential obstacles to its implantation, and how lessons from one agency may be of benefit to others.

Findings: The findings suggest that there appears to be attention required in the application of technology by public agencies, namely, workforce culture, training and budgets, and legislation which need to be addressed if the use of technology by public agencies is to be successful.

Originality/value: This paper seeks to learn lessons for the implementation technology by a public agency, namely, the police, in an attempt to inform other public bodies. By doing so, it is believed the lessons learned will make the applicatio

n of such technologies more effective.

Rosenfeld, A., (2019). Are drivers ready for traffic enforcement drones? Accident Analysis & Prevention, 122, 199-206, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2018.10.006.

Abstract

Traffic enforcement drones reduce high-risk driving behavior which often leads to traffic crashes. However, the introduction of drones may face a public acceptance challenge which may severely hinder their potential impact. In this paper, we report and discuss the results of a drivers’ survey, administered both in the US and Israel, regarding the benefits, concerns and policy considerations for the deployment of traffic enforcement drones. The results show that drivers perceive traffic enforcement drones as significantly more efficient and deterring compared to current aerial traffic enforcement resources (i.e., police helicopters) and comparable in quality to speed cameras. Privacy and safety are the main concerns expressed with regards to such technology, yet these concerns have been shown to be significantly relieved if traffic enforcement drones are restricted to interurban spaces. Interestingly, only a few Israeli participants object to the introduction of traffic enforcement drones to the traffic police's arsenal compared to about half of American participants. These results combine to suggest several practical guidelines for decision-makers which can facilitate the deployment of this potentially life-saving technology in the field.

Sahin, N. M., & Cubukcu, S. (2021), In-Car Cameras and Police Accountability in Use of Force Incidents. J Police Crim Psych. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-021-09472-9

Abstract

New policing technologies have generated solutions to many policing issues. In particular, portable camera systems (in-car or body-worn) have been offered as a tool to address the issue of police excessive use of force. It has been argued that police camera systems increase transparency in law enforcement and deter both police officers and citizens from engaging in undesirable behaviors during encounters. However, the question of how effective these technologies are in increasing the accountability of police departments still remains unanswered. Some argue that the use of camera systems to record police behavior does not create a significant reduction in excessive use-of-force complaints or does not serve as an effective accountability tool as expected. From this perspective, this study explores the impact of in-car camera usage on police use-of-force investigations. This research examines the impact of in-car cameras on the total, dismissed, and sustained excessive use-of-force complaints against 891 police departments in the USA with more than 100 sworn officers. We employed Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) 2007 dataset to conduct this analysis. We utilized negative binomial regression analysis in STATA 15 to examine whether the adoption of vehicle camera systems by police agencies has an impact on dismissed and sustained complaints of inappropriate use-of-force. We found that the adoption of in-car cameras correlates with the number of dismissed cases; however, we did not find any significant relationship between in-car camera usage and sustained cases. Police departments using in-car camera systems are more likely to dismiss citizen complaints, rather than sustaining them. We concluded that video footages generated by in-car camera systems are inadequate in producing evidence to back up the complainants' claims or in generating proof of excessive use of force for further investigation. Our findings suggest that police departments should not solely rely on in-car cameras if they want to enhance accountability and unearth police misconduct within their department.

Sakiyama, M., Miethe, T., Lieberman, J. et al. (2017), Big hover or big brother? Public attitudes about drone usage in domestic policing activities. Security Journal, 30, 1027–1044. https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2016.3

Abstract

Unmanned aerial systems (that is, UAS or drones) have been increasingly proposed and used by federal and state law enforcement agencies as an evolving technology for general surveillance, crime detection and criminal investigations. However, the use of UAS technology, in general, and within the particular context of domestic policing activities raises serious concerns about personal privacy and the greater intrusion of new forms of `big brother' surveillance in people's daily lives. On the basis of a national survey, the current study provides empirical evidence on public attitudes about UAS usage in various policing activities. Socio-demographic differences in the public support for drone usage in this context are also examined. Our general findings of context-specific variability in public support for UAS usage in policing operations are discussed in terms of their implications for developing public policy.

Samuel, G., & Prainsack, B. (2019) Forensic DNA phenotyping in Europe: views “on the ground” from those who have a professional stake in the technology, New Genetics and Society, 38, 2, 119-141, DOI: 10.1080/14636778.2018.1549984

Abstract

Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is an emerging technology that seeks to make probabilistic inferences regarding a person's observable characteristics ("phenotype") from DNA. The aim is to aid criminal investigations by helping to identify unknown suspected perpetrators, or to help with non-criminal missing persons cases. Here we provide results from the analysis of 36 interviews with those who have a professional stake in FDP, including forensic scientists, police officers, lawyers, government agencies and social scientists. Located in eight EU countries, these individuals were asked for their views on the benefits and problems associated with the prospective use of FDP. While all interviewees distinguished between those phenotypic tests perceived to either raise ethical, social or political concerns from those tests viewed as less ethically and socially problematic, there was wide variation regarding the criteria they used to make this distinction. We discuss the implications of this in terms of responsible technology development.

Sanders, C. B. & Henderson, S. (2013) Police ‘empires’ and information technologies: uncovering material and organisational barriers to information sharing in Canadian police services, Policing and Society, 23, 2, 243-260, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2012.703196

Abstract

Information sharing and collaborative policing have become hot topics within policing circles, especially in the wake of such horrific events as school shootings and multiple murder cases. In response to growing concerns over inadequate information sharing and integrated policing, police organisations are actively centralising their services through the implementation of shared technologies (such as computer aided dispatch systems and record management systems). Drawing on interviews and participation observation within two technologically similar Canadian police services, we uncover the material, social and organisational barriers to information sharing and integrated policing. We conclude by arguing that technological anomalies arising from materiality and organisational practices uncovers a critical functional disconnect between the design and patrol officer use of information technologies.

Sandhu, A., & Fussey, P. (2021) The ‘uberization of policing’? How police negotiate and operationalise predictive policing technology, Policing and Society, 31, 1, 66-81, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2020.1803315

Abstract

Predictive policing generally refers to police work that utilises strategies, algorithmic technologies, and big data to generate near-future predictions about the people and places deemed likely to be involved in or experience crime. Claimed benefits of predictive policing centre on the technology's ability to enable pre-emptive police work by automating police decisions. The goal is that officers will rely on computer software and smartphone applications to instruct them about where and who to police just as Uber drivers rely on similar technologies to instruct them about where to pick up passengers. Unfortunately, little is known about the experiences of the in-field users of predictive technologies. This article helps fill this gap by addressing the under researched area of how police officers engage with predictive technologies. As such, data is presented that outlines the findings of a qualitative study with UK police organisations involved in designing and trialing predictive policing software. Research findings show that many police officers have a detailed awareness of the limitations of predictive technologies, specifically those brought about by errors and biases in input data. This awareness has led many officers to develop a sceptical attitude towards predictive technologies and, in a few cases, these officers have expressed a reluctance to use

predictive software's ability to neutralise the subjectivity of police work overlooks the ongoing struggles of the police officer to assert their agency and mediate the extent to which predictions will be trusted and utilised.

Sandhu, A., & Haggerty, K. D. (2017). Policing on camera. Theoretical Criminology, 21, 1, 78–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480615622531

Abstract

On any shift a police officer might be filmed by some combination of public or private surveillance cameras, including the cameras of individual citizens, activists, journalists, businesses, and a range of police-controlled cameras. This loosely coordinated camera infrastructure is part of the broader transformation of policing from a historically low visibility to an increasingly high visibility' occupation. This article reports on the findings of a participant-observation study of how police officers understand and respond to this transformation. We identify three distinct orientations, and highlight the multifaceted and contradictory relationship between police officers and cameras. The study raises questions about the extent to which camera technologies represent a straightforward way to police the police.

Sheehey, B. (2019), Algorithmic paranoia: the temporal governmentality of predictive policing. Ethics Inf Technol 21, 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-018-9489-x

Abstract

In light of the recent emergence of predictive techniques in law enforcement to forecast crimes before they occur, this paper examines the temporal operation of power exercised by predictive policing algorithms. I argue that predictive policing exercises power through a paranoid style that constitutes a form of temporal governmentality. Temporality is especially pertinent to understanding what is ethically at stake in predictive policing as it is continuous with a historical racialized practice of organizing, managing, controlling, and stealing time. After first clarifying the concept of temporal governmentality, I apply this lens to Chicago Police Department's Strategic Subject List. This predictive algorithm operates, I argue, through a paranoid logic that aims to preempt future possibilities of crime on the basis of a criminal past codified in historical crime data.

Skogan, W. G., & Hartnett, S. M. (2005) The Diffusion of Information Technology in Policing, Police Practice and Research, 6, 5, 401-417, DOI: 10.1080/15614260500432949

Abstract

This study examines the diffusion of innovation among municipal police departments in northeastern Illinois. The opportunity to adopt an innovation arose when the Chicago Police Department (CPD) opened access to elements of its new centralized Data Warehouse to other criminal justice agencies. There is a long history of research on the diffusion of innovation, and a number of recent projects have applied this work to policing. Like innovation studies generally, this paper presents the shape of the diffusion curve that describes the pace of adoption, and it examines factors associated with adoption and the extent to which the innovation was actually used. Adoption and extent of utilization proved to be largely independent processes. Involvement in cosmopolitan networks, experience with using databases for law enforcement, and the human capital capacities of the organizations influenced the adoption decision, while organizational resources and experience in using the system drove the level of actual use. The rapid growth of system utilization was apparently due to three factors: the active role played by the 'evangelist' representing the host department; the fact that access to the system was free; and because it primarily empowered detectives-who enjoy a privileged position in policing-and did not challenge the traditional mission and organization of participating agencies.

Singh, M. (2017) Mobile technologies for police tasks: An Australian study, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 27, 1, 66-80, DOI: 10.1080/10919392.2016.1263114

Abstract

Mobile technologies are increasingly adopted by information intensive organizations such as public police corporations to support the tasks of its employees, for information management and innovation. However, because police organizations are government organizations, technology decisions are largely made by managers and politicians with budget being a key factor. Therefore, whether the technologies adopted are suitable for police tasks, and if they enhance performance, is generally not assessed. The aim of this research is to establish if mobile technologies support police tasks, and if Tablet PCs especially are suitable for specialist police tasks of the Criminal Investigators and Sexual Offence and Child Abuse Units. Guided by an interpretive paradigm and the theory of task technology fit, this research explores the use of Tablet PCs by the two police units for improved performance. Because information is critical for police tasks, data collected via focus groups establishes the impact of these technologies on case investigations, information management, and the performance of these units with the use of Tablet PCs. The contribution this study makes to mobile information systems is that if technology dimensions are suitable for information based tasks, the outcome is virtualization of processes through which improved performance is achieved due to reduced costs, transparency, teamwork, and quick and informed decisions. The findings of this research can be used by police organizations, as well as by other organizations, for effective implementation of mobile technologies.

Smykla, J. O., Crow, M. S., Crichlow, V. J. et al. (2016), Police Body-Worn Cameras: Perceptions of Law Enforcement Leadership. Am J Crim Just, 41, 424–443 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-015-9316-4

Abstract

Many people are enthusiastic about the potential benefits of police body-worn cameras (BWC). Despite this enthusiasm, however, there has been no research on law enforcement command staff perceptions of BWCs. Given the importance that law enforcement leadership plays in the decision to adopt and implement BWCs, it is necessary to assess their perceptions. This is the first study to measure law enforcement leadership attitudes toward BWCs. The study relies on data collected from surveys administered to command staff representing local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in a large southern county. Among the major perceptual findings are that command staff believe BWCs will impact police officers' decisions to use force in encounters with citizens and police will be more reluctant to use necessary force in encounters with the public. Respondents also believe that use of BWCs is supported by the public because society does not trust police, media will use BWC data to embarrass police, and pressure to implement BWCs comes from the media. Perceptions of the impact of BWCs on safety, privacy, and police effectiveness are also discussed.

Saulnier, A, Lahay, R, McCarty, W. P., & Sanders, C. (2020), The RIDE study: Effects of body-worn cameras on public perceptions of police interactions. Criminol Public Policy, 19: 833– 854. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12511

Abstract

Research Summary: During a brief interaction with motorists (i.e., a sobriety check), this study manipulated officer use (and declaration) of a body-worn camera (BWC) (present; absent) while documenting participant BWC recollection (correct; incorrect) to assess effects on motorists’ perceptions of the encounter and of police more generally. Results (N = 361) demonstrate that perceptions of procedural justice were more favourable in the BWC-present condition when the entire sample was included in the analyses, but that this effect was not significant when focusing on the subset of the sample that correctly recollected BWC use (though the pattern of the effect was the same in both analyses). Policy Implications: In combination with results from a handful of similar studies, this study's results suggest that BWCs may be a tool that can be leveraged to enhance public perceptions of encounters with police; however, more research is needed to substantiate this claim. In particular, the development of evidence-based policy on this matter necessitates continued studies that address issues such as sample imbalances (e.g., gender and minority status), length of the interaction studied (i.e., experimental dosage), and controlling for officer behavior.

Smith, M., & Miller, S. (2022), The ethical application of biometric facial recognition technology. AI & Soc 37, 167–175 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01199-9

Abstract

Biometric facial recognition is an artificial intelligence technology involving the automated comparison of facial features, used by law enforcement to identify unknown suspects from photographs and closed circuit television. Its capability is expanding rapidly in association with artificial intelligence and has great potential to solve crime. However, it also carries significant privacy and other ethical implications that require law and regulation. This article examines the rise of biometric facial recognition, current applications and legal developments, and conducts an ethical analysis of the issues that arise. Ethical principles are applied to mediate the potential conflicts in relation to this information technology that arise between security, on the one hand, and individual privacy and autonomy, and democratic accountability, on the other. These can be used to support appropriate law and regulation for the technology as it continues to develop.

Stalcup, M., & Hahn, C. (2016). Cops, cameras, and the policing of ethics. Theoretical Criminology, 20, 4, 482–501. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480616659814

Abstract

In this article, we explore how cameras are used in policing in the United States. We outline the trajectory of key new media technologies, arguing that cameras and social media together generate the ambient surveillance through which graphic violence is now routinely captured and circulated. Drawing on the work of Michel Foucault, we identify and examine intersections between video footage and police subjectivity in case studies of recruit training at the Washington state Basic Law Enforcement Academy and the Seattle Police Department’s body-worn camera project. We analyze these cases in relation to the major arguments for and against initiatives to increase police use of cameras, outlining what we see as techno-optimistic and techno-pessimistic positions. Drawing on the pragmatism of John Dewey, we argue for a third position that calls for field-based inquiry into the specific co-production of socio-techno subjectivities.

Stone, K. E. (2018), Smart Policing and the Use of Body Camera Technology: Unpacking South Africa's Tenuous Commitment to Transparency, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 12, 1, 109-115, DOI: 10.1093/police/pax066.

Abstract:

In 2014, the Western Cape Department of Community Safety in South Africa launched the first pilot of the Smart Policing Project, which sought to reduce incidents of violence between private citizens and law enforcement officials by attaching body-worn cameras (BWCs) to a small group of traffic officers throughout the province. In light of rising allegations of police brutality and deep-seated tensions between citizens and law enforcement officials, the Smart Policing Project received widespread support across the country. However, despite the appearance of a strengthening in police oversight, the ability of BWCs to hold police officers to account for acts of misconduct or criminality depends largely upon the existence of institutional policies governing usage, and a robust legislative framework for accessing information held by the state. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to unpack South Africa's tenuous commitment to transparency by juxtaposing the reactions of law enforcement officials to wearing BWCs owned and operated by the state, versus being recorded by cell phones owned and operated by private citizens. The article begins by examining the context of police oversight in South Africa in an effort to demonstrate the rationale for introducing BWCs 20 years post-Apartheid. It then moves on to highlight inconsistencies in South Africa's right of access to information regime by exploring differences in the levels of protection afforded to records held by public bodies versus those held by private bodies under the country's access to information legislation. The article concludes by discussing the impact of those protections on the utility of BWCs in South Africa, and making recommendations on how to increase the effectiveness of BWCs in strengthening openness and transparency in policing.

Tanner, S., & Meyer, M. (2015). Police work and new ‘security devices’: A tale from the beat. Security Dialogue, 46, 4, 384–400. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010615584256

Abstract

Mobile technologies have brought about major changes in police equipment and police work. If a utopian narrative remains strongly linked to the adoption of new technologies, often formulated as ‘magic bullets’ to real occupational problems, there are important tensions between their ‘imagined’ outcomes and the (unexpected) effects that accompany their daily ‘practical’ use by police officers. This article offers an analysis of police officers’ perceptions and interactions with security devices. In so doing, it develops a conceptual typology of strategies for coping with new technology inspired by Le Bourhis and Lascoumes: challenging, neutralizing and diverting. To that purpose, we adopt an ethnographic approach that focuses on the discourses, practices and actions of police officers in relation to three security devices: the mobile digital terminal, the mobile phone and the body camera. Based on a case study of a North American municipal police department, the article addresses how these technological devices are perceived and experienced by police officers on the beat.

Todak, N., Gaub, J. E. and White, M. D. (2018), The importance of external stakeholders for police body-worn camera diffusion, Policing: An International Journal, 41, 4, 448-464. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-08-2017-0091

Abstract

Purpose: The diffusion of innovations paradigm suggests that stakeholders’ acceptance of a police innovation shapes how it spreads and impacts the larger criminal justice system. A lack of support by external stakeholders for police body-worn cameras (BWCs) can short-circuit their intended benefits. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of BWCs among non-police stakeholders who are impacted by the technology as well as how BWCs influence their daily work processes.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted interviews and focus groups (n=41) in two US cities where the police department implemented BWCs. The interviewees range from courtroom actors (e.g. judges, prosecutors) to those who work with police in the field (e.g. fire and mental health), city leaders, civilian oversight members, and victim advocates.

Findings: External stakeholders are highly supportive of the new technology. Within the diffusion of innovations framework, this support suggests that the adoption of BWCs will continue. However, the authors also found the decision to implement BWCs carries unique consequences for external stakeholders, implying that a comprehensive planning process that takes into account the views of all stakeholders is critical.

Originality/value: Despite the recent diffusion of BWCs in policing, this is the first study to examine the perceptions of external stakeholders. More broadly, few criminologists have applied the diffusion of innovations framework to understand how technologies and other changes emerge and take hold in the criminal justice system. This study sheds light on the spread of BWCs within this framework and offers insights on their continued impact and consequences.

Todd, C., Bryce, J., & Franqueira, V. N. L. (2021) Technology, cyberstalking and domestic homicide: informing prevention and response strategies, Policing and Society, 31, 1, 82-99, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2020.1758698

Abstract

An emerging concern in relation to the importance of technology and social media in everyday life relates to their ability to facilitate online and offline stalking, domestic violence and escalation to homicide. However, there has been little empirical research or policing and policy attention to this domain. This study examined the extent to which there was evidence of the role of technology and cyberstalking in domestic homicide cases based on the analysis of 41 Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) documents, made available by the Home Office (UK). Three interviews were also conducted with victims or family members of domestic homicide in the UK. It aimed to develop a deeper understanding of the role of technology in facilitating these forms of victimisation to inform further development of investigative practice, risk assessment and safeguarding procedures. Key themes identified by the thematic analysis undertaken related to behavioural and psychological indicators of cyberstalking, evidence of the role of technology in escalation to homicide and the digital capabilities of law enforcement. Overall, the results indicated that: (1) there was evidence of technology and social media playing a facilitating role in these behaviours, (2) the digital footprints of victims and perpetrators were often overlooked in police investigations and the DHR process and (3) determining the involvement of technology in such cases is important for risk assessment and earlier intervention to prevent escalation of behaviour to domestic homicide. It also indicates the importance of further developing evidence-based approaches to preventing and responding for victims, the police and other practitioners.

Tulumello, S., & Iapaolo, F., (2021), Policing the future, disrupting urban policy today. Predictive policing, smart city, and urban policy in Memphis, Urban Geography, DOI: 10.1080/02723638.2021.1887634

Abstract:

Significant resources and efforts have been devoted, especially in the USA, to develop predictive policing programs. Predictive policing is, at the same time, one of the drivers of the birth, and the ultimate material enactment of, the anticipatory logics that are central to the smart city discourse. Quite surprisingly, however, critical analyses of the smart city have remained divorced from critical criminology and police studies. To fill this gap, this article sets out the first critical, in-depth empirical discussion of Blue CRUSH, a predictive policing program developed in Memphis (TN, USA), where its implementation intersects long-term austerity for urban policy. The article, first, shows that there is no evidence of Blue CRUSH's capacity to prevent crime, thus adding empirical material to skepticism over the role of predictive policing as a policy solution in the first place. And, second, it argues that, rather than making crime a matter of technological solutions, predictive policing shifts the politics therein - in short, it contributes to the expansion of policing into the field of urban policy at the same time as it disrupts present police work. These takeaways allow to further the critique of the salvific promises implicit in the smart city discourse.

Urquhart, L., & Miranda, D. (2021) Policing faces: the present and future of intelligent facial surveillance, Information & Communications Technology Law, DOI: 10.1080/13600834.2021.1994220

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the present and future uses of intelligent facial surveillance (IFS) in law enforcement. We present an empirical and legally focused case study of live automated facial recognition technologies (LFR) in British policing. In Part I, we analyse insights from 26 frontline police officers exploring their concerns and current scepticism about LFR. We analyse recent UK case law on LFR use by police which raises concerns around human rights, data protection and anti-discrimination laws. In Part II, we consider frontline officers' optimism around future uses of LFR and explore emerging forms of IFS, namely emotional Al (EAI) technologies. A key novelty of the paper is our analysis on how the proposed EU Al Regulation (AIR) will shape future uses of IFS in policing. AIR makes LFR a prohibited form of Al and EAI use by law enforcement will be regulated as high-risk Al that has to comply with new rules and design requirements. Part III presents a series of 10 practical lessons, drawn from our reflections on the legal and empirical perspectives. These aim to inform any future law enforcement use of IFS in the UK and beyond.

124. Urquhart, L., Miranda, D., & Podoletz, L. (2022). Policing the smart home: The internet of things as ‘invisible witnesses'. Information Polity. https://doi.org/10.3233/IP-211541

Abstract

In this paper, we develop the concept of smart home devices as ‘invisible witnesses’ in everyday life. We explore contemporary examples that highlight how smart devices have been used by the police and unpack the socio-technical implications of using these devices in criminal investigations. We draw on several sociological, computing and forensics concepts to develop our argument. We consider the challenges of obtaining and interpreting trace evidence from smart devices; unpack the ways in which these devices are designed to be ‘invisible in use’; and consider the processes by which they become domesticated into everyday life. We also analyse the differentiated levels of control occupants have over home devices, and the surveillance impacts of making everyday life visible to third parties, particularly the police.

Van Eijk, C. (2018). Helping Dutch Neighborhood Watch Schemes to Survive the Rainy Season: Studying Mutual Perceptions on Citizens' and Professionals' Engagement in the Co-Production of Community Safety. Voluntas 29, 1: 222--236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-017--9918--1

Abstract

Despite the growing research interest in coproduction, some important gaps in our knowledge remain. Current literature is mainly concerned with either the citizens or professionals being involved in co-production, leaving unanswered the question how co-producers and professionals perceive each other’s engagement, and how this is reflected in their collaboration. This study aims to answer that question, conducting an exploratory case study on neighborhood watch schemes in a Dutch municipality. Empirical data are collected through group/individual interviews, participant observations, and document analysis. The results show that the perceptions citizens and professionals hold on their co-production partner’s engagement indeed impact on the collaboration. Moreover, for actual collaboration to occur, citizens and professionals not only need to be engaged but also to make this

engagement visible to their co-production partner. The article concludes with a discussion of the practical implications of these findings.

van ‘t Wout, E., Pieringer, C., Irribarra, D. T., Asahi, K., & Larroulet, P. (2021) Machine learning for policing: a case study on arrests in Chile, Policing and Society, 31, 9, 1036-1050, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2020.1779270

Abstract

Police agencies expend considerable effort to anticipate future incidences of criminal behaviour. Since a large proportion of crimes are committed by a small group of individuals, preventive measures are often targeted on prolific offenders. There is a long-standing expectation that new technologies can improve the accurate identification of crime patterns. Here, we explore big data technology and design a machine learning algorithm for forecasting repeated arrests. The forecasts are based on administrative data provided by the national Chilean police agencies, including a history of arrests in Santiago de Chile and personal metadata such as gender and age. Excellent algorithmic performance was achieved with various supervised machine learning techniques. Still, there are many challenges regarding the design of the mathematical model, and its eventual incorporation into predictive policing will depend upon better insights into the effectiveness and ethics of preemptive strategies.

Wall, T. (2016) Ordinary Emergency: Drones, Police, and Geographies of Legal Terror. Antipode, 48, 1122– 1139. doi: 10.1111/anti.12228.

Abstract

This paper brings into conversation two ostensibly disparate geographies of state violence: the routine police surveillance and killing of members of the dangerous classes in the United States, an issue that is in no way new but nevertheless has gained increased attention over the last year with the Black Lives Matter movement; and the targeted drone strikes against terrorist suspects in the war on terror. By laying side by side the war drone and domestic police power, it becomes readily apparent that despite ostensible differencesforeign vs. domestic, war vs. peace, exceptional vs. normal, military vs. police, legal vs. extralegalthe unmanning of state violence gains much of its political and legal force from the language and categories that have long animated the routine policing of domestic territory. The paper calls for taking the violence of police power more seriously than many drone commentators have.

Walsh, J. P., & O'Connor, C. (2019). Social media and policing: A review of recent research. Sociology Compass, 13, e12648. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12648

Abstract

Studies of social media's impact on policing have emerged in several disciplines, including criminology, sociology, and communications. Despite their insight, there is no unified body of knowledge regarding this relationship. In an attempt to synthesize extant work, bring coherence to the field, and orient future scholarship, this article summarizes research on social media's implications for practices and perceptions of order maintenance. It does so by identifying how social media's technical affordances empower and constrain police services. By offering new opportunities for surveillance, risk communication, and impression management, emergent technologies augment the police's control of their public visibility and that of the social world. However, they also provide unprecedented capacities to monitor the police and expose, circulate, and mobilize around perceived injustice, whether brutality, racial profiling, or other forms of indiscretion. Considering these issues promises to enhance knowledge on contemporary directions in social control, organizational communication, inequality, and collective action. Suggestions for future research are also explored.

Weaver, C. M., Chu, J. P., Lugo, A., Uyeda, N., Cha, Y. M., Zadonowics, T., & Giordano, B. (2021). Community-Based Participatory Research With Police: Development of a Tech-Enhanced Structured Suicide Risk Assessment and Communication Smartphone Application, Law and Human Behavior, 45, 5, 456-467. DOI: 10.1037/lhb0000470

Abstract:

Objective: Police officers initiate psychiatric holds following determination of suicide risk. Such referrals constitute direct decriminalization of mental illness at the single most efficient criminal justice system diversion point. However, system-level problems with this process highlight a need to further understand and improve this service connection juncture. The goal of the present study was to inform the development of a smartphone application designed to enhance police referrals of individuals experiencing suicide crises into treatment via culturally responsive structured professional judgment. Hypotheses: Given the developmental and qualitative nature of this study, there were no formal hypotheses tested. Research questions included the following: Would police officers broadly endorse concerns about the care referral process? Would officers support the use of technology to assist with those concerns? And would officers raise concerns about the demands on time and expertise that would be placed on them to conduct thorough risk assessments? Method: Researchers used community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods to obtain police stakeholder-driven data through four focus groups with 47 police officers (76.6% male, 59.6% White, with a mean of 10.7 years of police employment) sampled from patrol and hostage negotiation units. Participants shared information about specific problems arising in the process through which police refer people to medical care, and they gave feedback on the beta version of a culturally responsive mobile app designed to streamline officers' evidence-based and culturally informed determinations of suicide risk. Results: Results, qualitatively coded using grounded theory methodology, yielded key considerations for police use of culturally responsive apps to divert individuals in suicidal crisis into treatment, including the need to maintain a balance between risk assessment and communication, allow for variance in time constraints, allow for flexibility in response and report options, account for inaccurate reports of suicide risk factors, maximize utility of the app's risk report output, incorporate sensitivity around cultural questions, and consider officers' safety in their use of the app in the field. Conclusions: The results illustrate a theoretically based (CBPR) approach to cross-disciplinary technology development to facilitate evidence-based assessments by law enforcement.

Public Significance Statement This study informs leveraging of digital technology and culturally responsive assessments to enhance police referrals of individuals experiencing suicide crises into treatment rather than incarceration. It specifically informs the development of a smartphone app designed to improve that process.

Vilendrer, S., Armano, A., Johnson, C. G. B., Favet, M., Safaeimli, N., Villasenor, J., Shaw, J. G., Hertelendy, A. J., Asch, S. M., & Mahoney, M. (2021), An App-Based Intervention to Support First Responders and Essential Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Needs Assessment and Mixed Methods Implementation , Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23, 5, e26573 DOI: 10.2196/26573.

Abstract:

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for first responders (eg, police, fire, and emergency medical services) and nonmedical essential workers (eg, workers in food, transportation, and other industries). Health systems may be uniquely suited to support these workers given their medical expertise, and mobile apps can reach local communities despite social distancing requirements. Formal evaluation of real-world mobile app-based interventions is lacking.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the adoption, acceptability, and appropriateness of an academic medical center-sponsored app-based intervention (COVID-19 Guide App) designed to support access of first responders and essential workers to COVID-19 information and testing services. We also sought to better understand the COVID-19-related needs of these workers early in the pandemic.

Methods: To understand overall community adoption, views and download data of the COVID-19 Guide App were described. To understand the adoption, appropriateness, and acceptability of the app and the unmet needs of workers, semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted by telephone, by video, and in person with first responders and essential workers in the San Francisco Bay Area who were recruited through purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling. Interview transcripts and field notes were qualitatively analyzed and presented using an implementation outcomes framework.

Results: From its launch in April 2020 to September 2020, the app received 8262 views from unique devices and 6640 downloads (80.4% conversion rate, 0.61% adoption rate across the Bay Area). App acceptability was mixed among the 17 first responders interviewed and high among the 10 essential workers interviewed. Select themes included the need for personalized and accurate information, access to testing, and securing personal safety. First responders faced additional challenges related to interprofessional coordination and a "culture of heroism" that could both protect against and exacerbate health vulnerability.

Conclusions: First responders and essential workers both reported challenges related to obtaining accurate information, testing services, and other resources. A mobile app intervention has the potential to combat these challenges through the provision of disease-specific information and access to testing services but may be most effective if delivered as part of a larger ecosystem of support. Differentiated interventions that acknowledge and address the divergent needs between first responders and non-first responder essential workers may optimize acceptance and adoption.

Whitehead, S., & Farrell, G., (2008), Anticipating Mobile Phone ‘Smart Wallet’ Crime: Policing and Corporate Social Responsibility, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2, 2, 210–217, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pan024

Abstract

Policing continues to struggle with the wave of mobile phone theft that emerged from the mid-1990s onwards. In this decade, the rate of increase may be waning, but the next wave may be approaching. Mobile phone smart wallets combine smart card technology with mobile phones, and the potential for identity theft and financial crime—and hence the attractiveness of theft—is likely to increase with smart wallets. This could spur new forms of theft, violence and other crimes. However, the market testing of technologies in Japan may be inappropriate for crime-proofing purposes, because of Japan's low crime rate. The criminogenic potential of smart card and mobile smart wallet technologies warrants further examination. If policing is to avoid a potential crime problem, discussions with manufacturers should begin before the problem takes hold.

White, M. D., Todak, N., & Gaub, J. E. (2018), Examining Body-Worn Camera Integration and Acceptance Among Police Officers, Citizens, and External Stakeholders. Criminology & Public Policy, 17, 649-677. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12376

Abstract

We explore integration and acceptance of body-worn cameras (BWCs) among police, citizens, and stakeholders in one jurisdiction (Tempe, AZ) that adhered to the U.S. Department of Justice's (U.S. DOJ's) BWC Implementation Guide. We assess integration and acceptance through (a) officer surveys pre- and postdeployment, (b) interviews with citizens who had recent police encounters, and (c) interviews with external stakeholders. We also analyze (d) officer self-initiated contacts, (e) misdemeanor court case time to disposition, and (f) case outcomes. We found high levels of BWC acceptance across all groups. Officer proactivity remained consistent. Time-to-case disposition and the rate of guilty outcomes both trended in positive directions.

Policy Implications: Although the results of early research on BWCs showed positive impacts, the findings from recent studies have been mixed. Implementation difficulties may explain the mixed results. Planning, implementation, and management of a BWC program are complex undertakings requiring significant resources. The technology also generates controversy, so the risk of implementation failure is substantial. The findings from our study demonstrate that adherence to the U.S. DOJ BWC Implementation Guide can lead to high levels of integration and acceptance among key stakeholders.

Wienroth, M., (2018) Governing anticipatory technology practices. Forensic DNA phenotyping and the forensic genetics community in Europe, New Genetics and

Society, 37:2, 137-152, DOI: 10.1080/14636778.2018.1469975

Abstract

Forensic geneticists have attempted to make the case for continued investment in forensic genetics research, despite its seemingly consolidated evidentiary role in criminal justice, by shifting the focus to technologies that can provide intelligence. Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is one such emerging set of techniques, promising to infer external appearance and ancestry of an unknown person. On this example, I consider the repertoire of anticipatory

practices deployed by scientists, expanding the concept to not only focus on promissory but also include epistemic and operational aspects of anticipatory work in science. I explore these practices further as part of anticipatory self governance efforts, attending to the European forensic genetics community and its construction of FDP as a reliable and legitimate technology field for use in delivering public goods around security and justice. In this context, I consider three types of ordering devices that translate anticipatory practices

into anticipatory self-governance.

Wienroth, M., (2020), Value beyond scientific validity: let’s RULE (Reliability, Utility, LEgitimacy), Journal of Responsible Innovation, DOI: 10.1080/23299460.2020.1835152

Abstract

My perspective piece contributes to social studies of biometric technologies, and to studies on values and valuation within debates of responsible innovation. I reflect on innovation as

social practice where values are temporary settlements of considerations around validity, operability, and social compatibility of socio-technical innovations. As such, I propose a

practice-based approach to testing values in new technologies and their respective emerging practice and governance arrangements around Reliability, Utility and LEgitimacy (RULE).

These three values combine scientific with operational and social aspects of innovation as centre-points around which deliberative engagement can be facilitated between different societal perspectives, offering the opportunity to develop greater awareness of diverse and at times competing understandings of value. On the case study of forensic genetics – the use of genetic material and data for policing purposes in security and justice contexts – I make the case for multi-perspectival, cross disciplinary, community-grounded deliberation based on RULE.

Williams, A., & Paterson, C. (2021). Social Development and Police Reform: Some Reflections on the Concept and Purpose of Policing and the Implications for Reform in the UK and USA, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15, 2, 1565–1573, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paaa087

Abstract

The increase in calls for police reform following the death of George Floyd has led to renewed debate about social inequality and the role of policing in society. Modern bureaucratic police systems emerged from locally administered structures and Anglo-American policing models continue to be aligned, to varying degrees, with the political, socio-cultural, legal, and ideological aspects of contemporary liberal democratic society with its emphasis on democratic localism and decentralised accountability. However, at a time when society is reimagining itself and technology, government, and nations are radically re-shaping themselves, a critical question is whether there is a sufficiently common philosophical and conceptual understanding of policing to support its development rather than just a common understanding of police functions. This is profoundly important when considering the current calls for reform of policing in the USA and other western democratic states. The article argues that there is an urgent need to reconsider how we conceptualize policing and its relationship with social development.

Williams, D. P. (2020), Fitting the description: historical and sociotechnical elements of facial recognition and anti-black surveillance. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 7, supplement 1, 74-83. DOI: 10.1080/23299460.2020.1831365

Abstract

It is increasingly evident that if researchers and policymakers want to meaningfully develop an understanding of responsible innovation, we must first ask whether some sociotechnical systems should be developed, at all. Here I argue that systems like facial recognition, predictive policing, and biometrics are predicated on myriad human prejudicial biases and assumptions which must be named and interrogated prior to any innovation. Further, the notions of individual responsibility inherent in discussions of technological ethics and fairness overburden marginalized peoples with a demand to prove the reality of their marginalization. Instead, we should focus on equity and justice, valuing the experiential knowledge of marginalized peoples and optimally positioning them to enact deep, lasting change. My position aligns with those in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) which center diverse and situated knowledges, and is articulated together with calls for considering within science and engineering wider sociocultural concerns like justice and equality.

Williams, M., Butler, M., Jurek-Loughrey, A., & Sezer, S. (2021) Offensive communications: exploring the challenges involved in policing social media, Contemporary Social Science, 16, 2, 227-240, DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1563305

Abstract

The digital revolution has transformed the potential reach and impact of criminal behaviour. Not only has it changed how people commit crimes but it has also created opportunities for new types of crimes to occur. Policymakers and criminal justice institutions have struggled to keep pace with technological innovation and its impact on criminality. Criminal law and justice, as well as investigative and prosecution procedures, are often outdated and ill-suited to this type of criminality as a result. While technological solutions are being developed to detect and prevent digitally-enabled crimes, generic solutions are often unable to address the needs of criminal justice professionals and policymakers. Focussing specifically on social media, this article offers an exploratory investigation of the strengths and weaknesses of the current approach used to police offensive communications online. Drawing on twenty in-depth interviews with key criminal justice professionals in the United Kingdom, the authors discuss the substantial international challenges facing those seeking to police offensive social media content. They argue for greater cooperation between policymakers, social science and technology researchers to develop workable, innovative solutions to these challenges, and greater use of evidence to inform policy and practice.

Williams, M. L., Edwards, A., Housley, W., Burnap, P., Rana, O., Avis, N., Morgan, J., & Sloan, L. (2013) Policing cyber-neighbourhoods: tension monitoring and social media networks, Policing and Society, 23, 4, 461-481, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2013.780225

Abstract

We propose that late modern policing practices, that rely on neighbourhood intelligence, the monitoring of tensions, surveillance and policing by accommodation, need to be augmented in light of emerging cyber-neighbourhoods', namely social media networks. The 2011 riots in England were the first to evidence the widespread use of social media platforms to organise and respond to disorder. The police were ill-equipped to make use of the intelligence emerging from these non-terrestrial networks and were found to be at a disadvantage to the more tech-savvy rioters and the general public. In this paper, we outline the development of the tension engine' component of the Cardiff Online Social Media ObServatroy (COSMOS). This engine affords users with the ability to monitor social media data streams for signs of high tension which can be analysed in order to identify deviations from the norm' (levels of cohesion/low tension). This analysis can be overlaid onto a palimpsest of curated data, such as official statistics about neighbourhood crime, deprivation and demography, to provide a multidimensional picture of the terrestrial' and cyber' streets. As a consequence, this neighbourhood informatics' enables a means of questioning official constructions of civil unrest through reference to the user-generated accounts of social media and their relationship to other, curated, social and economic data.

Wilson-Kovacs, D. (2021), Digital media investigators: challenges and opportunities in the use of digital forensics in police investigations in England and Wales, Policing: An International Journal, 44, 4, 669-682. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-02-2021-0019

Abstract

Purpose - In-depth knowledge about specific national approaches to using digital evidence in investigations is scarce. A clearer insight into the organisational barriers and professional challenges experienced, alongside a more detailed picture of how digital evidence can help police investigations are required to empirically substantiate claims about how digital technologies are changing the face of criminal investigations. The paper aims to focus on the introduction of digital media investigators to support investigating officers with the collection and interpretation of digital evidence.

Design/methodology/approach - Drawing on ethnographic and interview data collected as part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project on the application of digital forensics expertise in policing in England and Wales, this paper examines the changing face of investigations in relation to escalating digital demand.

Findings - The analysis presents the national and regional organisational parameters of deploying digital expertise in criminal investigation and examines some of the challenges of being a digital media investigator (DMI). Through testimonies from DMIs, digital forensic practitioners, investigating and senior officers and forensic managers, the analysis explores the organisational tensions in the collection, processing, interpretation and use of information from digital devices for evidential purposes.

Research limitations/implications -The paper offers an empirical basis for the comparative study of how the DMI role has been implemented by law enforcement agencies and its fit within broader institutional considerations and processes.

Practical implications - The development of the DMI role has raised questions about the supply of digital expertise, especially to volume crime investigations, and tensions around occupational divisions between scientific and operational units.

Social implications - The findings show that while the introduction of the DMI role was much needed, the development of this valuable provision within each force and the resources available require sustained and coordinated support to protect these professionals and retain their skills.

Originality/value - This study contributes to the growing sociological and criminological literature with an ethnographically based perspective into the organisational and occupational tensions in the identification and processing of digital evidence in England and Wales.

Wolfe, M. (2021), Policing The Lost: The Emergence of Missing Persons and the Classification of Deviant Absence. Theor Soc. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-021-09466-w

Abstract

In the mid-19(th) century, increases in global migration and mobility produced a discernable rise in the number of ambiguous absences. This shift, combined with a novel expectation, linked to improved communications technology, that such absences might be resolved engendered the emergence of missing persons as a social category. A demand on the part of families of the missing that the state aid in their location would produce a Bourdieusian classification struggle over how to define and categorize this new mass of absences. At issue would be whether an ambiguously absent individual was merely absent, as a routine component of social life, or whether the individual merited legitimation by the state as a new form of deviant: a "missing" person. Scholars have described the emerging administrative state's enhanced powers of surveillance and classification and its persistent inclination to render their populations, in James Scott's phrase, "legible." Brought to the attention of the state, missing persons represented a body of people who had conspicuously fallen out of official sight. Yet, instead of attempting to fix this omission by gathering additional information on the lost - to, in effect, see the missing - as theories of the state would lead us to expect, the state chose to look away. In the United States, the state, in the form of municipal police departments, resisted classifying absences as cases of missingness and pushed back against families' requests for aid. Leveraging the inherently ambiguous characteristics of the missing, the state promoted a definition of missing persons that conveniently freed it from the burden of managing an unmanageable population. In this article, drawing from archival data, I challenge prevailing theories of the modern state that emphasize its avidly classificatory nature by offering a case in which legibility was strategically withheld and a population was, in service of state interests, intentionally obscured. Only after the state lost its symbolic monopoly and the category was raced and gendered, becoming, in public discourse, associated with a socially valuable demographic - namely, young, white women - would the state, facing a threat to its legitimacy, deem the missing as worthy of being seen.

Woods, P., Leidl, D., Luimes, J., & Butler, L. (2019). Exploring the Delivery of Healthcare in the Police Detention Center Through Remote Presence Technology, Journal of Forensic Nursing, 15, 1, 26-34. doi: 10.1097/JFN.0000000000000217

Abstract

Introduction: There is overwhelming evidence to support the delivery of high-quality health service at a lower cost with the use of advanced technologies. Implementing remote presence technology to expand clinical care has been fraught with barriers that limit interprofessional collaboration and optimal client outcomes. In Canada, government ministries responsible for correctional services, policing, and health are well positioned to link federal, provincial, and regional services to enhance service delivery at the point of care for individuals detained within the justice system. Using remote presence technology to link the detention center with relevant health services such as the emergency room has the potential to open up a new care pathway.

Research Question: The key research question was how a new intervention pathway for individuals detained in police service detention centers could be implemented.

Research Design: Utilizing an exploratory qualitative research design, interviews were undertaken with 12 police service and six healthcare participants. Data were transcribed and thematically analyzed.

Findings: Four main themes emerged and included role conflict, risk management, resource management, and access to services. A number of collaborative learning partnerships were identified by the participants.

Wright, J. (2021). Suspect AI: Vibraimage, Emotion Recognition Technology and Algorithmic Opacity. Science, Technology and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/09717218211003411

Abstract

Vibraimage is a digital system that quantifies a subject’s mental and emotional state by analysing video footage of the movements of their head. Vibraimage is used by police, nuclear power station operators, airport security and psychiatrists in Russia, China, Japan and South Korea, and has been deployed at two Olympic Games, a FIFA World Cup and a G7 Summit. Yet there is no reliable empirical evidence for its efficacy; indeed, many claims made about its effects seem unprovable. What exactly does vibraimage measure and how has it acquired the power to penetrate the highest profile and most sensitive security infrastructure across Russia and Asia? I first trace the development of the emotion recognition industry, before examining attempts by vibraimage’s developers and affiliates scientifically to legitimate the technology, concluding that the disciplining power and corporate value of vibraimage are generated through its very opacity, in contrast to increasing demands across the social sciences for transparency. I propose the term ‘suspect artificial intelligence (AI)’ to describe the growing number of systems like vibraimage that algorithmically classify suspects/non-suspects, yet are themselves deeply suspect. Popularising this term may help resist such technologies’ reductivist approaches to ‘reading’—and exerting authority over—emotion, intentionality and agency.

Wright, J. E., & Headley, A. M. (2021). Can Technology Work for Policing? Citizen Perceptions of Police-Body Worn Cameras. The American Review of Public Administration, 51, 1, 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020945632

Abstract

Recent incidents between police and people of color have further strained police–community relationships. Scholars, practitioners, activists, policy makers, and several police departments have advocated for the implementation of body-worn cameras (BWC), a technological adoption promoted to address growing mistrust in the United States. This article examines perception of this technological adoption through 40 in-depth interviews in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, this article uses the context of police BWC to explore how the integration of technological advancements impacts the relationships between communities and local governments—namely police departments. The evidence suggests that residents believe BWC should improve officer behavior and increase police legitimacy, but cameras will not increase trust between police and the community. Based on the findings, this research identifies the limitations of BWC technology and assesses potential collaborative strategies available for police organizations related to the adoption and use of BWC.

Young, J. T. N., & Ready, J. T. (2015). Diffusion of Ideas and Technology: The Role of Networks in Influencing the Endorsement and Use of On-Officer Video Cameras. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 31, 3, 243–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986214553380

Abstract

On-officer videos, or body cameras, can provide objective accounts of interactions among police officers and the public. Police leadership tends to view this emerging technology as an avenue for resolving citizen complaints and prosecuting offenses where victims and witnesses are reluctant to testify. However, getting endorsement from patrol officers is difficult. These incongruent cognitive frames are a cultural barrier to the utilization of innovative technologies. Understanding the mechanisms that lead to the deconstruction of these barriers is essential for the integration of technology into organizations. Using affiliation data collected from a large police department in Southwestern United States over a 4-month period, we find that interactions with other officers provide a conduit for facilitating cognitive frames that increase camera legitimacy.

Part C- Abstracts Selected for Inclusion from the Supplementary Literature Search Focusing on the Health and Children and Families’ Sectors

Health Sector

Aicardi, C., Fothergill, T., Rainey, S., Carsten Stahl, B., and Harris, E., (2018), Accompanying technology development in the Human Brain Project: From foresight to ethics management, Futures 102, 114-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2018.01.005.

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of managing the existential risk potential of general Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as the more near-term yet hazardous and disruptive implications of specialised AI, from the perspective of a particular research project that could make a significant contribution to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI): the Human Brain Project (HBP), a ten-year Future and Emerging Technologies Flagship of the European Commission. The HBP aims to create a digital research infrastructure for brain science, cognitive neuroscience, and brain-inspired computing. This paper builds on work undertaken in the HBP’s Ethics and Society subproject (SP12). Collaborators from two activities in SP12, Foresight and Researcher Awareness on the one hand, and Ethics Management on the other, use the case of machine intelligence to illustrate key aspects of the dynamic processes through which questions of ethics and society, including existential risks, are approached in the organisational context of the HBP. The overall aim of the paper is to provide practice-based evidence, enriched by self-reflexive assessment of the approach used and its limitations, for guiding policy makers and communities who are, and will be, engaging with such questions.

Birchley, G, Huxtable, R., Murtagh, M. et al. (2017), Smart homes, private homes? An empirical study of technology researchers’ perceptions of ethical issues in developing smart-home health technologies. BMC Med Ethics 18, 23, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0183-z

Abstract

Background: Smart-home technologies, comprising environmental sensors, wearables and video are attracting interest in home healthcare delivery. Development of such technology is usually justified on the basis of the technology’s potential to increase the autonomy of people living with long-term conditions. Studies of the ethics of smart-homes raise concerns about privacy, consent, social isolation and equity of access. Few studies have investigated the ethical perspectives of smart-home engineers themselves. By exploring the views of engineering researchers in a large smart-home project, we sought to contribute to dialogue between ethics and the engineering community.

Methods: Either face-to-face or using Skype, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 early- and mid-career smart-home researchers from a multi-centre smart-home project, who were asked to describe their own experience and to reflect more broadly about ethical considerations that relate to smart-home design. With participants’ consent, interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using a thematic approach.

Results: Two overarching themes emerged: in ‘Privacy’, researchers indicated that they paid close attention to negative consequences of potential unauthorised information sharing in their current work. However, when discussing broader issues in smart-home design beyond the confines of their immediate project, researchers considered physical privacy to a lesser extent, even though physical privacy may manifest in emotive concerns about being watched or monitored. In ‘Choice’, researchers indicated they often saw provision of choice to end-users as a solution to ethical dilemmas. While researchers indicated that choices of end-users may need to be restricted for technological reasons, ethical standpoints that restrict choice were usually assumed and embedded in design.

Conclusions: The tractability of informational privacy may explain the greater attention that is paid to it. However, concerns about physical privacy may reduce acceptability of smart-home technologies to future end-users. While attention to choice suggests links with privacy, this may misidentify the sources of privacy and risk unjustly burdening end-users with problems that they cannot resolve. Separating considerations of choice and privacy may result in more satisfactory treatment of both. Finally, through our engagement with researchers as participants this study demonstrates the relevance of (bio)ethics as a critical partner to smart-home engineering.

Blease C, Kaptchuk T. J., Bernstein, M. H, Mandl, K. D., Halamka, J. D., Des Roches, C. M., (2019). Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Primary Care: Exploratory Qualitative Study of UK General Practitioners’ Views, J Med Internet Res, 21, (3):e12802, doi: 10.2196/12802

Abstract

Background: The potential for machine learning to disrupt the medical profession is the subject of ongoing debate within biomedical informatics and related fields.

Objective: This study aimed to explore general practitioners’ (GPs’) opinions about the potential impact of future technology on key tasks in primary care.

Methods: In June 2018, we conducted a Web-based survey of 720 UK GPs’ opinions about the likelihood of future technology to fully replace GPs in performing 6 key primary care tasks, and, if respondents considered replacement for a particular task likely, to estimate how soon the technological capacity might emerge. This study involved qualitative descriptive analysis of written responses (“comments”) to an open-ended question in the survey.

Results: Comments were classified into 3 major categories in relation to primary care: (1) limitations of future technology, (2) potential benefits of future technology, and (3) social and ethical concerns. Perceived limitations included the beliefs that communication and empathy are exclusively human competencies; many GPs also considered clinical reasoning and the ability to provide value-based care as necessitating physicians’ judgments. Perceived benefits of technology included expectations about improved efficiencies, in particular with respect to the reduction of administrative burdens on physicians. Social and ethical concerns encompassed multiple, divergent themes including the need to train more doctors to overcome workforce shortfalls and misgivings about the acceptability of future technology to patients. However, some GPs believed that the failure to adopt technological innovations could incur harms to both patients and physicians.

Conclusions: This study presents timely information on physicians’ views about the scope of artificial intelligence (AI) in primary care. Overwhelmingly, GPs considered the potential of AI to be limited. These views differ from the predictions of biomedical informaticians. More extensive, stand-alone qualitative work would provide a more in-depth understanding of GPs’ views.

De Togni, G., Erikainen, S., Chan, S., and Cunningham-Burley, S. (2021), What makes AI ‘intelligent’ and ‘caring’? Exploring affect and relationality across three sites of intelligence and care, Social Science & Medicine, 277, 113874, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113874.

Abstract

This paper scrutinises how AI and robotic technologies are transforming the relationships between people and machines in new affective, embodied and relational ways. Through investigating what it means to exist as human ‘in relation’ to AI across health and care contexts, we aim to make three main contributions. (1) We start by highlighting the complexities of philosophical issues surrounding the concepts of “artificial intelligence” and “ethical machines.” (2) We outline some potential challenges and opportunities that the creation of such technologies may bring in the health and care settings. We focus on AI applications that interface with health and care via examples where AI is explicitly designed as an ‘augmenting’ technology that can overcome human bodily and cognitive as well as socio-economic constraints. We focus on three dimensions of ‘intelligence’ - physical, interpretive, and emotional - using the examples of robotic surgery, digital pathology, and robot caregivers, respectively. Through investigating these areas, we interrogate the social context and implications of human-technology interaction in the interrelational sphere of care practice. (3) We argue, in conclusion, that there is a need for an interdisciplinary mode of theorising ‘intelligence’ as relational and affective in ways that can accommodate the fragmentation of both conceptual and material boundaries between human and AI, and human and machine. Our aim in investigating these sociological, philosophical and ethical questions is primarily to explore the relationship between affect, relationality and ‘intelligence,’ the intersection and integration of ‘human’ and ‘artificial’ intelligence, through an examination of how AI is used across different dimensions of intelligence. This allows us to scrutinise how ‘intelligence’ is ultimately conveyed, understood and (technologically or algorithmically) configured in practice through emerging relationships that go beyond the conceptual divisions between humans and machines, and humans vis-à-vis artificial intelligence-based technologies.

Facca, D., Smith, M. J, Shelley, J., Lizotte, D., and Donelle, L. (2020), Exploring the ethical issues in research using digital data collection strategies with minors: A scoping review. PLoS ONE 15(8): e0237875. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237875

Abstract

While emerging digital health technologies offer researchers new avenues to collect real time data, little is known about current ethical dimensions, considerations, and challenges

that are associated with conducting digital data collection in research with minors. As such,

this paper reports the findings of a scoping review which explored existing literature to canvass current ethical issues that arise when using digital data collection in research with

minors. Scholarly literature was searched using electronic academic databases for articles

that provided explicit ethical analysis or presented empirical research that directly

addressed ethical issues related to digital data collection used in research with minors. After

screening 1,156 titles and abstracts, and reviewing 73 full-text articles, 20 articles were

included in this review. Themes which emerged across the reviewed literature included:

consent, data handling, minors’ data rights, observing behaviors that may result in risk of

harm to participants or others, private versus public conceptualizations of data generated

through social media, and gatekeeping. Our findings indicate a degree of uncertainty which

invariably exists with regards to the ethics of research that involves minors and digital technology. The reviewed literature suggests that this uncertainty can often lead to the preclusion of minors from otherwise important lines of research inquiry. While uncertainty warrants ethical consideration, increased ethical scrutiny and restricting the conduct of such research raises its own ethical challenges. We conclude by discussing and recommending the ethical merits of co-producing ethical practice between researchers and minors as a mechanism to proceed with such research while addressing concerns around uncertainty.

Fukuda-Parr, S. and Gibbons, E. (2021), Emerging Consensus on ‘Ethical AI’: Human Rights Critique of Stakeholder Guidelines. Glob Policy, 12: 32-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12965

Abstract

Voluntary guidelines on ‘ethical practices’ have been the response by stakeholders to address the growing concern over harmful social consequences of artificial intelligence and digital technologies. Issued by dozens of actors from industry, government and professional associations, the guidelines are creating a consensus on core standards and principles for ethical design, development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI). Using human rights principles (equality, participation and accountability) and attention to the right to privacy, this paper reviews 15 guidelines preselected to be strongest on human rights, and on global health. We find about half of these ground their guidelines in international human rights law and incorporate the key principles; even these could go further, especially in suggesting ways to operationalize them. Those that adopt the ethics framework are particularly weak in laying out standards for accountability, often focusing on ‘transparency’, and remaining silent on enforceability and participation which would effectively protect the social good. These guidelines mention human rights as a rhetorical device to obscure the absence of enforceable standards and accountability measures, and give their attention to the single right to privacy. These ‘ethics’ guidelines, disproportionately from corporations and other interest groups, are also weak on addressing inequalities and discrimination. We argue that voluntary guidelines are creating a set of de facto norms and re-interpretation of the term ‘human rights’ for what would be considered ‘ethical’ practice in the field. This exposes an urgent need for action by governments and civil society to develop more rigorous standards and regulatory measures, grounded in international human rights frameworks, capable of holding Big Tech and other powerful actors to account.

Gooding, P., (2019), Mapping the rise of digital mental health technologies: Emerging issues for law and society, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 67, 101498, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2019.101498.

Abstract

The use of digital technologies in mental health initiatives is expanding, leading to calls for clearer legal and regulatory frameworks. However, gaps in knowledge about the scale and nature of change impede efforts to develop responsible public governance in the early stages of what may be the mass uptake of ‘digital mental health technologies’. This article maps established and emerging technologies in the mental health context with an eye to locating major socio-legal issues. The paper discusses various types of technology, including those designed for information sharing, communication, clinical decision support, ‘digital therapies’, patient and/or population monitoring and control, bio-informatics and personalised medicine, and service user health informatics. The discussion is organised around domains of use based on the actors who use the technologies, and those on whom they are used. These actors go beyond mental health service users and practitioners/service providers, and include health and social system or resource managers, data management services, private companies that collect personal data (such as major technology corporations and data brokers), and multiple government agencies and private sector actors across diverse fields of criminal justice, education, and so on. The mapping exercise offers a starting point to better identify cross-cutting legal, ethical and social issues at the convergence of digital technology and contemporary mental health practice.

Kaplan, B. (2022). Ethics, Guidelines, Standards, and Policy: Telemedicine, COVID-19, and Broadening the Ethical Scope. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 31(1), 105-118. doi:10.1017/S0963180121000852

Abstract

The coronavirus crisis is causing considerable disruption and anguish. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent explosion of telehealth services also provide an unparalleled opportunity to consider ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) beyond immediate needs. Ethicists, informaticians, and others can learn from experience, and evaluate information technology practices and evidence on which to base policy and standards, identify significant values and issues, and revise ethical guidelines. This paper builds on professional organizations’ guidelines and ELSI scholarship to develop emerging concerns illuminated by current experience. Four ethical themes characterized previous literature: quality of care and the doctor–patient relationship, access, consent, and privacy. More attention is needed to these and to expanding the scope of ethical analysis to include health information technologies. An applied ethics approach to ELSI would addresses context-specific issues and the relationships between people and technologies, and facilitate effective and ethical institutionalization of telehealth and other health information technologies.

Lindeman, D. A., Kim, K. K., Gladstone, C., and Apesoa-Varano, E. C., (2020), Technology and Caregiving: Emerging Interventions and Directions for Research, The Gerontologist, 60, 1: S41–S49, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnz178

Abstract

An array of technology-based interventions has increasingly become available to support family caregivers, primarily focusing on health and well-being, social isolation, financial, and psychological support. More recently the emergence of new technologies such as mobile and cloud, robotics, connected sensors, virtual/augmented/mixed reality, voice, and the evermore ubiquitous tools supported by advanced data analytics, coupled with the integration of multiple technologies through platform solutions, have opened a new era of technology-enabled interventions that can empower and support family caregivers. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for identifying and addressing the challenges that may need to be overcome to effectively apply technology-enabled solutions for family caregivers. The paper identifies a number of challenges that either moderate or mediate the full use of technologies for the benefit of caregivers. The challenges include issues related to equity, inclusion, and access; ethical concerns related to privacy and security; political and regulatory factors affecting interoperability and lack of standards; inclusive/human-centric design and issues; and inherent economic and distribution channel difficulties. The paper concludes with a summary of research questions and issues that form a framework for global research priorities.

Malgieri, G., and Niklas, J., (2020), Vulnerable data subjects, Computer Law & Security Review, 37, 105415, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2020.105415

Abstract

Discussion about vulnerable individuals and communities spread from research ethics to consumer law and human rights. According to many theoreticians and practitioners, the framework of vulnerability allows formulating an alternative language to articulate problems of inequality, power imbalances and social injustice. Building on this conceptualisation, we try to understand the role and potentiality of the notion of vulnerable data subjects. The starting point for this reflection is wide-ranging development, deployment and use of data-driven technologies that may pose substantial risks to human rights, the rule of law and social justice. Implementation of such technologies can lead to discrimination systematic marginalisation of different communities and the exploitation of people in particularly sensitive life situations. Considering those problems, we recognise the special role of personal data protection and call for its vulnerability-aware interpretation. This article makes three contributions. First, we examine how the notion of vulnerability is conceptualised and used in the philosophy, human rights and European law. We then confront those findings with the presence and interpretation of vulnerability in data protection law and discourse. Second, we identify two problematic dichotomies that emerge from the theoretical and practical application of this concept in data protection. Those dichotomies reflect the tensions within the definition and manifestation of vulnerability. To overcome limitations that arose from those two dichotomies we support the idea of layered vulnerability, which seems compatible with the GDPR and the risk-based approach. Finally, we outline how the notion of vulnerability can influence the interpretation of particular provisions in the GDPR. In this process, we focus on issues of consent, Data Protection Impact Assessment, the role of Data Protection Authorities, and the participation of data subjects in the decision making about data processing.

Ronquillo, C.E., Peltonen, L.-M., Pruinelli, L., Chu, C.H., Bakken, S., Beduschi, A., Cato, K., Hardiker, N., Junger, A., Michalowski, M., Nyrup, R., Rahimi, S., Reed, D.N., Salakoski, T., Salanterä, S., Walton, N., Weber, P., Wiegand, T. and Topaz, M. (2021), Artificial intelligence in nursing: Priorities and opportunities from an international invitational think-tank of the Nursing and Artificial Intelligence Leadership Collaborative. J Adv Nurs, 77: 3707-3717. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14855

Abstract

Aim: To develop a consensus paper on the central points of an international invitational think-tank on nursing and artificial intelligence (AI).

Methods: We established the Nursing and Artificial Intelligence Leadership (NAIL) Collaborative, comprising interdisciplinary experts in AI development, biomedical ethics, AI in primary care, AI legal aspects, philosophy of AI in health, nursing practice, implementation science, leaders in health informatics practice and international health informatics groups, a representative of patients and the public, and the Chair of the ITU/WHO Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health. The NAIL Collaborative convened at a 3-day invitational think tank in autumn 2019. Activities included a pre-event survey, expert presentations and working sessions to identify priority areas for action, opportunities and recommendations to address these. In this paper, we summarize the key discussion points and notes from the aforementioned activities.

Implications for nursing: Nursing's limited current engagement with discourses on AI and health posts a risk that the profession is not part of the conversations that have potentially significant impacts on nursing practice.

Conclusion: There are numerous gaps and a timely need for the nursing profession to be among the leaders and drivers of conversations around AI in health systems.

Impact: We outline crucial gaps where focused effort is required for nursing to take a leadership role in shaping AI use in health systems. Three priorities were identified that need to be addressed in the near future: (a) Nurses must understand the relationship between the data they collect and AI technologies they use; (b) Nurses need to be meaningfully involved in all stages of AI: from development to implementation; and (c) There is a substantial untapped and an unexplored potential for nursing to contribute to the development of AI technologies for global health and humanitarian efforts.

Saheb, T., Saheb, T., O. Carpenter, D., (2021), Mapping research strands of ethics of artificial intelligence in healthcare: A bibliometric and content analysis. Computers in Biology and Medicine, 135, 104660, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104660.

Abstract

The growth of artificial intelligence in promoting healthcare is rapidly progressing. Notwithstanding its promising nature, however, AI in healthcare embodies certain ethical challenges as well. This research aims to delineate the most influential elements of scientific research on AI ethics in healthcare by conducting bibliometric, social network analysis, and cluster-based content analysis of scientific articles. Not only did the bibliometric analysis identify the most influential authors, countries, institutions, sources, and documents, but it also recognized four ethical concerns associated with 12 medical issues. These ethical categories are composed of normative, meta-ethics, epistemological and medical practice. The content analysis complemented this list of ethical categories and distinguished seven more ethical categories: ethics of relationships, medico-legal concerns, ethics of robots, ethics of ambient intelligence, patients' rights, physicians’ rights, and ethics of predictive analytics. This analysis likewise identified 40 general research gaps in the literature and plausible future research strands. This analysis furthers conversations on the ethics of AI and associated emerging technologies such as nanotech and biotech in healthcare, hence, advances convergence research on the ethics of AI in healthcare. Practically, this research will provide a map for policymakers and AI engineers and scientists on what dimensions of AI-based medical interventions require stricter policies and guidelines and robust ethical design and development.

Samuel, G., & Prainsack, B. (2019) Forensic DNA phenotyping in Europe: views “on the ground” from those who have a professional stake in the technology, New Genetics and Society, 38:2, 119-141, DOI: 10.1080/14636778.2018.1549984

Abstract

Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is an emerging technology that seeks to make probabilistic inferences regarding a person’s observable characteristics (“phenotype”) from DNA. The aim is to aid criminal investigations by helping to identify unknown suspected perpetrators, or to help with non-criminal missing persons cases. Here we provide results from the analysis of 36 interviews with those who have a professional stake in FDP, including forensic scientists, police officers, lawyers, government agencies and social scientists. Located in eight EU countries, these individuals were asked for their views on the benefits and problems associated with the prospective use of FDP. While all interviewees distinguished between those phenotypic tests perceived to either raise ethical, social or political concerns from those tests viewed as less ethically and socially problematic, there was wide variation regarding the criteria they used to make this distinction. We discuss the implications of this in terms of responsible technology development.

Schwarz J, Bärkås A, Blease C, Collins L, Hägglund M, Markham S, and Hochwarter S. (2021), Sharing Clinical Notes and Electronic Health Records With People Affected by Mental Health Conditions: Scoping Review JMIR Mental Health 8 (12): e34170

Abstract

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) are increasingly implemented internationally, whereas digital sharing of EHRs with service users (SUs) is a relatively new practice. Studies of patient-accessible EHRs (PAEHRs)—often referred to as open notes—have revealed promising results within general medicine settings. However, studies carried out in mental health care (MHC) settings highlight several ethical and practical challenges that require further exploration.

Objective: This scoping review aims to map available evidence on PAEHRs in MHC. We seek to relate findings with research from other health contexts, to compare different stakeholders’ perspectives, expectations, actual experiences with PAEHRs, and identify potential research gaps.

Methods: A systematic scoping review was performed using 6 electronic databases. Studies that focused on the digital sharing of clinical notes or EHRs with people affected by mental health conditions up to September 2021 were included. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess the quality of the studies. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) Extension for Scoping Reviews guided narrative synthesis and reporting of findings.

Results: Of the 1034 papers screened, 31 were included in this review. The studies used mostly qualitative methods or surveys and were predominantly published after 2018 in the United States. PAEHRs were examined in outpatient (n=29) and inpatient settings (n=11), and a third of all research was conducted in Veterans Affairs Mental Health. Narrative synthesis allowed the integration of findings according to the different stakeholders. First, SUs reported mainly positive experiences with PAEHRs, such as increased trust in their clinician, health literacy, and empowerment. Negative experiences were related to inaccurate notes, disrespectful language use, or uncovering of undiscussed diagnoses. Second, for health care professionals, concerns outweigh the benefits of sharing EHRs, including an increased clinical burden owing to more documentation efforts and possible harm triggered by reading the notes. Third, care partners gained a better understanding of their family members’ mental problems and were able to better support them when they had access to their EHR. Finally, policy stakeholders and experts addressed ethical challenges and recommended the development of guidelines and trainings to better prepare both clinicians and SUs on how to write and read notes.

Conclusions: PAEHRs in MHC may strengthen user involvement, patients’ autonomy, and shift medical treatment to a coproduced process. Acceptance issues among health care professionals align with the findings from general health settings. However, the corpus of evidence on digital sharing of EHRs with people affected by mental health conditions is limited. Above all, further research is needed to examine the clinical effectiveness, efficiency, and implementation of this sociotechnical intervention.

Sleigh, J., and Vayena, E. (2021), Public engagement with health data governance: the role of visuality. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 8, 149 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00826-6

Abstract

Over the last years, public engagement has become a topic of scholarly and policy debate particularly in biomedicine, a field that increasingly centres around collecting, sharing and analysing personal data. However, the use of big data in biomedicine poses specific challenges related to gaining public support for health data usage in research and clinical settings. The improvement of public engagement practices in health data governance is widely recognised as critical to address this issue. Based on OECD guidance, public engagement serves to enhance transparency and accountability, and enable citizens to actively participate in shaping what affects their lives. For health research initiatives, this provides a way to cultivate cooperation and build public trust. Today, the exact formats of public engagement have evolved to include approaches (such as social media, events and websites) that exploit visualisation mediated by emerging information and communication technologies. Much scholarship acknowledges the advantages of visuality for public engagement, particularly in information-dense and digital contexts. However, little research has examined how health data governance actors utilise visuality to promote clarity, understandability and audience participation. Beyond simply acknowledging the diversity of possible formats, attention must also be paid to visualisations’ rhetorical capacity to convey arguments and ideas and motivate particular audiences in specific situations. This paper seeks to address this gap by analysing both the approaches and methods of argumentation used in two visual public engagement campaigns. Based on Gottweis’ analytical framework of argumentative performativity, this paper explores how two European public engagement facilitators construct contending narratives in efforts to make sense of and grapple with the challenges of health data sharing. Specifically, we analyse how their campaigns employ the three rhetorical elements logos, ethos and pathos, proposed by Gottweis to assess communicative practices, intermediated and embedded in symbolically rich social and cultural contexts. In doing so, we highlight how visual techniques of argumentation seek to bolster engagement but vary with rhetorical purposes, as while one points to health data sharing risks, the other focuses on benefits. Moreover, drawing on digital and visual anthropology, we reflect on how the digitalisation of communicative practices impacts visual power.

Ulucanlar, S., Faulkner, A., Peirce, S., and Elwyn, G. (2013), Technology identity: The role of sociotechnical representations in the adoption of medical devices, Social Science & Medicine, 98: 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.09.008.

Abstract

This study explored the sociotechnical influences shaping the naturally-occurring adoption and non-adoption of device technologies in the UK's National Health Service (NHS), amid increasing policy interest in this area. The study was informed by Science and Technology Studies and structuration and Actor Network Theory perspectives, drawing attention to the performative capacities of the technology alongside human agentic forces such as agendas and expectations, in the context of structural and macro conditions. Eight technologies were studied using a comparative ethnographic case study design and purposive and snowball sampling to identify relevant NHS, academic and industry participants. Data were collected between May 2009 and February 2012, included in-depth interviews, conference observations and printed and web-based documents and were analysed using constructivist grounded theory methods. The study suggests that while adoption decisions are made within the jurisdiction of healthcare organisations, they are shaped within a dynamic and fluid ‘adoption space’ that transcends organisational and geographic boundaries. Diverse influences from the industry, health care organisation and practice, health technology assessment and policy interact to produce ‘technology identities.’ Technology identities are composite and contested attributes that encompass different aspects of the technology (novelty, effectiveness, utility, risks, requirements) and that give a distinctive character to each. We argue that it is these socially constructed and contingent heuristic identities that shape the desirability, acceptability, feasibility and adoptability of each technology, a perspective that policy must acknowledge in seeking to intervene in health care technology adoption.

van Grunsven, J. (2021), Perceptual breakdown during a global pandemic: introducing phenomenological insights for digital mental health purposes. Ethics Inf Technol 23, 91–98 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-020-09554-y

Abstract

Online therapy sessions and other forms of digital mental health services (DMH) have seen a sharp spike in new users since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having little access to their social networks and support systems, people have had to turn to digital tools and spaces to cope with their experiences of anxiety and loss. With no clear end to the pandemic in sight, many of us are likely to remain reliant upon DMH for the foreseeable future. As such, it is important to articulate some of the specific ways in which the pandemic is affecting our self and world-relation, such that we can identify how DMH services are best able to accommodate some of the newly emerging needs of their users. In this paper I will identify a specific type of loss brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and present it as an important concept for DMH. I refer to this loss as loss of perceptual world-familiarity. Loss of perceptual world-familiarity entails a breakdown in the ongoing effortless responsiveness to our perceptual environment that characterizes much of our everyday lives. To cash this out I will turn to insights from the phenomenological tradition. Initially, my project is descriptive. I aim to bring out how loss of perceptual world-familiarity is a distinctive form of loss that is deeply pervasive yet easily overlooked—hence the relevance of explicating it for DMH purposes. But I will also venture into the space of the normative, offering some reasons for seeing perceptual world-familiarity as a component of well-being. I conclude the paper with a discussion of how loss of perceptual world-familiarity affects the therapeutic setting now that most if not all therapeutic interactions have transitioned to online spaces and I explore the potential to augment these spaces with social interaction technologies. Throughout, my discussion aims to do justice to the reality that perceptual world-familiarity is not an evenly distributed phenomenon, that factors like disability, gender and race affect its robustness, and that this ought to be reckoned with when seeking to incorporate the phenomenon into or mitigate it through DMH services.

Zhu, J., Shi, K., Yang, C., Niu, Y., Zeng, Y., Zhang, N., Liu, T., & Chu, C. H. (2021). Ethical issues of smart home-based elderly care: A scoping review. Journal of Nursing Management, 1– 14. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13521

Abstract

Aim: To explore current research on the ethics of smart home technologies including artificial intelligence and information technologies for elderly care by conducting a scoping review.

Background: The development of smart home technologies for care of the older adults provides potential solutions to reduce the caregiver burden within families where they are urgently needed. Building an ethical system to support the application of these technical products should be explored.

Methods: The literature search was performed in seven electronic databases. Relevant studies from January 2015 to February 2021 were selected; screening and analysis were completed independently by two researchers.

Results: There were a total of 15 included studies on the ethics of smart home technologies for elderly care, which focused on the following issues: privacy (information privacy and physical privacy), autonomy (independence, informed consent and user-centred control), safety guarantee, fairness and concerns about reduced human contact.

Conclusions: There exist a number of ethical conflicts in the application of smart home technologies for elderly care. Therefore, it is necessary to further investigate the ethical issues with regards to the decision-making process of weighing the advantages and disadvantages of these technologies.

Implications for nursing management: Efforts should be made to establish a corresponding ethical framework to ensure the sustainable development of smart, home-based elderly care. Nurses may play an important role in the design and implementation of these technologies to promote ethical awareness and practice.

Children and Families

Cooner, T. S., Beddoe, L., Ferguson, H. & Joy, E. (2020) The use of Facebook in social work practice with children and families: exploring complexity in an emerging practice, Journal of Technology in Human Services, 38:2, 137-158, DOI: 10.1080/15228835.2019.1680335

Abstract

This article draws from a 15-month participant observation study of social work and child protection practices in England to illustrate how social workers used Facebook to gain another view of service-users’ lives. Social media use was not an intended focus for the study, its presence emerged during our data analysis. While some research has shown that such practices occur, our long-term ethnographic approach provides new insights into how Facebook was actually used in ongoing casework with families and why it was used. Our findings show that Facebook use took multiple forms. Some social workers actively searched service users’ Facebook pages and some opposed any such usage. We further advance the literature by introducing a third group who were unwillingly “drawn into” acting on Facebook information presented to them by others such as their managers. Our research insights suggest that social work must pause to consider the implications of these complex emerging practices.

Egard, H., & Hansson, K., (2021) The digital society comes sneaking in. An emerging field and its disabling barriers, Disability & Society, DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2021.1960275

Abstract

This study examines disabled people’s everyday experience of social exclusion in relation to the rapid growth of digital technologies in everyday practices. It highlights the relationships between the growing theoretical apparatus on how society changes with new digital technologies, and theories about how this might lead to new disabling barriers in the everyday lives of disabled people. To better understand disabled people’s everyday experiences of social exclusion in the digital age, it brings together insights from two different fields: digital technology, mainly in digital social science and digital humanities; and disability studies, with a focus on the digital divide. The study draws on empirical observations, photographs and interviews with adults with various disabilities in Sweden, and analyses their everyday experiences with the help of a theoretical framework.

Gillingham, P., (2019), Developments in Electronic Information Systems in Social Welfare Agencies: From Simple to Complex, The British Journal of Social Work, 49, 1: 135–146, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy014

Abstract

The problems with current forms of electronic information systems (IS) being used by social welfare agencies have been documented by researchers internationally and attention is turning to how they might be better designed and used. In this article, drawing from ethnographic research about IS implementation and evaluation with a number of social welfare agencies, two different approaches—one simple and one complex—to designing and using IS in social welfare agencies are presented. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach, as emerged from discussions with research participants, are explored. The aim of the article is to assist both decision makers and practitioners in social welfare agencies to clarify their needs in relation to how future IS are designed and used.

Jackson, N., & Burke, K. (2019). Attitudes to and experiences of genetic information and testing among professionals working in the context of adoption. Adoption & Fostering, 43(3), 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308575919864187

Abstract

In the process of creating a care plan or finding a placement for children, assessment of their health and developmental needs will be undertaken. This can involve the interpretation of complex family history information and may also include undertaking and interpreting the results of genetic testing, when within professional guidelines. This study explores opinions, knowledge about and experiences of adoption professionals in relation to genetic information and testing in Wales. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with six social workers and seven medical advisers. The data were transcribed and thematically analysed. Themes included the challenges to collation of family history, how the willingness of professionals to undertake genetic testing in children awaiting adoption was altered by the availability (and non-availability) of family history information, and the uncertainty that genetic information can generate for professionals and prospective parents. Uncertainty for both professional groups emerged from apparent inconsistency in current practice and from concern over their own lack of genetic knowledge. As new genetic technologies increase the scope of uncertainty, there is a need for social workers and medical practitioners working in adoption to have a greater understanding of genetics alongside opportunities to discuss cases in a multidisciplinary setting when appropriate.

Mathiyazhagan, S. (2021), Field Practice, Emerging Technologies, and Human Rights: the Emergence of Tech Social Workers. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-021-00190-0

Abstract

Structural inequalities, historical oppression, discrimination, social exclusion, power, and privilege are some of the most pressing human rights issues that social workers deal with in everyday practice. In the recent past, all these issues are not only prevalent in offline communities, but they are also active in online communities. The digital divide and online polarizations perpetuate power and privilege within and outside of social work practice. Social work practices are moving beyond boundaries, expanding, and adopting emerging technologies in all aspects of social work education, research, and practice. This paper has been prepared based on my last decade of transnational social work practice experience and fieldwork supervision. There is an emerging need for tech social work practices in all fields of social work. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities for tech social work in the field and explores a possible model for tech social work practice to support safe and inclusive communities on and offline to promote human rights.

Pink, S., Ferguson, H., & Kelly, L. (2022). Digital social work: Conceptualising a hybrid anticipatory practice. Qualitative Social Work, 21(2), 413–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250211003647

Abstract

While the use of digital media and technologies has impacted social work for several years, the Covid-19 pandemic and need for physical distancing dramatically accelerated the systematic use of video calls and other digital practices to interact with service users. This article draws from our research into child protection to show how digital social work was used during the pandemic, critically analyse the policy responses, and make new concepts drawn from digital and design anthropology available to the profession to help it make sense of these developments. While policy responses downgraded digital practices to at best a last resort, we argue that the digital is now an inevitable and necessary element of social work practice, which must be understood as a hybrid practice that integrates digital practices such as video calls and face-to-face interactions. Moving forward, hybrid digital social work should be a future-ready element of practice, designed to accommodate uncertainties as they arise and sensitive to the improvisatory practice of social workers.