Realizing the Potential of Technology for Policing: A Multi-Site Study of the Social, Organizational, and Behavioral Aspects of Implementing Policing Technologies

The proposed 18-month project will examine the social, organizational, and behavioral implications of new technological tools for policing. The goal of the project will be to illuminate the organizational practices and changes needed to fully realize the potential of technology for enhancing the fairness and effectiveness of policing. The study's objectives will be to determine: 1) what specific technologies are most central to improving the effectiveness of policing; 2) how and for what purposes these technologies are used across various ranks and organizational subunits; 3) the ways in which technologies influence police, at both the organizational and individual levels, in terms of operations, structure, culture, behavior, satisfaction, and other outcomesand how, concurrently, these organizational and individual aspects of policing shape the use and effectiveness of the technologies; 4) how policing technologies affect crime and police-community relationships; and 5) what organizational changes in terms of policies, procedures, equipment, systems, culture, and/or management style are needed to optimize the use of these technologies to reduce crime and enhance citizens' views of the police. To meet these objectives, the case studies will entail multiple methods: interviews and focus groups conducted with people throughout the agencies; surveys conducted with operational personnel; reviews of documents and data pertaining to technology implementation and impacts; and systematic observations of agency personnel. Further, in two sites, field experiments will be conducted to test the impacts of geospatial technologies, which are strongly linked to innovations such as Compstat and hot spots policing, on officer behavior and cognitions. ca/ncf