Assessing police social media practices through a democratic policing lens
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557231169391 |
| Author | Liam Ralph,Paul Robinson |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue: Technology in Policing |
Assessing police social media practices
through a democratic policing lens
Liam Ralph
Northumbria University, UK
Paul Robinson
Northumbria University, UK
Abstract
Academic interest in police use of social media has proliferated in the past decade. Much of this research has centred on
police adaptations of social media. Yet, little is known about what these practices signify from a democratic policing out-
look. This is despite the fact that there has been considerable debate on the extent to which the internet has democra-
tised government and public institutions more broadly. Accordingly, existing evidence relating to police use of social
media was assessed with close reference to Marenin’s six principles (Marenin O (1998) The goal of democracy in inter-
national police assistance programmes. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management 21(1): 159–
177). In doing so, we put forward two original contributions. First, true democratic policing online is being thwarted
by both the ways in which social media is organised within police organisations and the nature of social media more
broadly. Second, although Marenin’s model provides a useful starting point for analysing police social media practices,
greater attention must be afforded to police and citizens’readiness to engage with each other online.
Keywords
Democratic policing, e-democracy, police engagement, digital policing, social media
Submitted 7 Dec 2022, Revise received 14 Mar 2023, accepted 28 Mar 2023
Introduction
The number of people using both the internet and social
media platforms has increased rapidly in the past three
decades (Statista, 2022). At the same time, scholars have
attempted to understand whether and how the online
world has democratised the state and public institutions.
Concepts such as participation, co-production, citizenship,
empowerment and democracy are being reassessed in
a digital world characterised by e-government and
e-service. For Diamond (2010), information and communi-
cation technology (herein referred to as ICT) are ‘liberation
technology’in that they have provided a more accessible
avenue for citizens to hold the state to account. Similarly,
Ellison and Hardey (2014) suggest that social media
provides renewed hope for civic engagement and enables
the state to reach out to what they describe as ‘real’citizens
and a more diverse demographic. However, the authors also
suggest that civic engagement necessitates a state that is
both willing and active in its attempts to engage meaning-
fully with citizens online. Equally, Tucker et al. (2017)
contend that social media platforms have allowed a
greater number of people to engage in political debates
than were previously able to do so via earlier forms of the
media, including television and the printing press.
Corresponding author:
Liam Ralph, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Email: liam.ralph@northumbria.ac.uk
Special Issue: Technology in Policing
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(3) 237–249
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557231169391
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