Gap exists between citizen expectations and
police use of digital tools
Eight-out-of-10 citizens surveyed by Accenture (NYSE:ACN)
believe expanded use of new and advanced digital tools would
improve police services. Specifically, they are comfortable
with police officers using: predictive technologies (88 percent),
security cameras (83 percent), wearable technologies, such as
body-worn cameras, (80 percent) and mobile devices (89
percent).
Following a similar 2012 research survey by Accenture, the 2014
survey shows that 96 percent of those surveyed believe the public
has a role to play in police services, and 78 percent see crime
reporting as a key responsibility for citizens. The Accenture
Citizen Pulse Survey on Policing 2014 was conducted in August 2014
among 4,000 people in eight countries (learn more Research and
Insights and Infographic).
According to the survey, 88 percent of citizens believe digital
technologies can aid crime investigation and criminal apprehension
and that police should use digital channels such as social media,
mobile devices such as smartphones and wearable cameras, websites
and other online tools to help collect information about specific
cases.
More than three-quarters (77 percent) believe digital technology
can help prevent crime and want police to use digital channels to
communicate with them, but only 42 percent report their police
actually doing so. Additionally, more than 70 percent believe
local police services should use digital channels more to
communicate and engage with citizens and 88 percent say digital
technologies can give police a way to ask the public for
information about specific cases.
“This survey shows that citizens believe that digital tools –
such as mobile devices and wearable cameras – together with
predictive analytics-based technologies can have a positive impact
on crime by helping identify where crime might occur and how best
to deploy police, “ said Ger Daly, who leads Accenture’s global
Defense & Public Safety business. “It also shows that while
nearly all citizens want to actively help police prevent, detect
and fight crime, there is a gap between what digital tools citizens
expect police to use, and what police actually use.”
Social Media
The most significant shift in citizen expectations between the
2012 and 2014 surveys was an increase in the demand for digital
channels for interacting with police, which was up from 20 percent
in 2012 to 42 percent in 2014. Nearly three-quarters (72 percent)
of respondents in the current survey said today they are more
willing to engage with their local police via social media than
they were a year ago. For citizens willing to engage with police
via social media, Facebook remains the preferred channel (85
percent in 2014 compared to 81 percent 2012), followed by Twitter,
which had the most growth (up to 42 percent from 35 percent) and
YouTube (up to 26 percent from 19 percent).
More than eight-out-of-ten (86 percent) say that digital
technology can open up communication channels between citizens and
their police force. Of those who want more interaction with
their police force, 79 percent say they want more digital
interaction (via social media, email or websites) – perhaps
indicating that they believe digital technologies can bridge the
communication gap between police and citizens. Moreover, 69
percent of citizens believe social media can improve police
services – up from 53 percent in 2012.
Citizens’ perceptions of social media usage by police have gone
up from 13 percent in 2012 to 24 percent in 2014. However, a gap
still exists between citizen expectations and the use of digital
social media channels by police.
Perception Gaps Still Exist
Two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents want more interaction
with their local police, and 79 percent of those are specifically
interested in more digital interaction. The percentage of
citizens who believe that their local police force currently uses
digital channels has more than doubled in the last two years – to
42 percent in 2014 from 20 percent in 2012. Despite the
perceived increase in digital usage by police, 77 percent of
respondents to the 2014 survey said that police should use digital,
which indicates a gap of 35 percentage points between citizen
expectations of the use of digital by police and their perceptions
about current digital usage.
The survey responses identified additional insights into the
perception gaps:
- Twenty percent of citizen respondents
believe that the police currently use websites or Web portals to
communicate, but 46 percent of them believe police should be using
the Web;
- Thirteen percent said their local
police are using smartphones or apps, but 34 percent who believe
the police should be using those tools; and
- Twenty-four percent of respondents said
the police use social media – such as Twitter, Facebook or YouTube
– but 42 percent believe they should.
The survey indicates that despite the perception gaps, demand
for and use of websites and email interactions appear to be fairly
consistent information-sharing channels between citizens and
police: website usage, at 20 percent, is only two percentage points
less than in 2012 (22 percent), while citizen perception of email
usage by police has gone up from 11 percent in 2012 to 16 percent
in 2014.
In 2012, only five percent of respondents perceived that police
are using smartphone apps to interact with citizens; in 2014, that
number increased eight percentage points to 13 percent. Meanwhile,
citizen demand for smartphone apps has risen from 23 percent in
2012 to 34 percent in 2014 with nearly three-quarters (74 percent)
of respondents saying they would use a mobile app created by their
local police force to report crimes or obtain information about
crimes.
“These results show that citizen perception of both the use of
smartphone apps by police and citizen demand for smartphone apps
connecting them to the police have increased – which indicates an
opportunity for police to increase their use of these types of
digital interactions to meet citizen expectations, and engage and
interact more effectively with them,” added Daly.
Reporting Crime and Neighborhood Policing
Citizens still prefer traditional methods of reporting crime,
but their enthusiasm for the traditional methods is decreasing. If
they had to choose one form of interaction with police, over half
(51 percent) of the respondents in 2014 – said they prefer to
interact with police via the telephone compared to 59 percent in
2012. Further, the preference of interacting with police in person
was down to 19 percent in 2014 from 22 percent in 2012. In
contrast, Internet and website use as a preferred method of
reporting crimes and other incidents has more than doubled from 4
percent in 2012 to 9 percent in 2014.
Despite citizens’ growing desire for more digital interaction
with police, neighborhood policing remains important: 63 percent
say they would like a neighborhood police
contact. Three-quarters of all respondents (76 percent) who do
not currently have a community police force contact want one – up
from 62 percent in 2012.
“Citizens see digital as a real crime-fighting tool that can
prevent as well as detect crimes, and the police should be
congratulated for making significant progress in their digital
advancement,” said James Slessor, who leads Accenture Public Safety
Services globally. “But, it is not enough for police simply to
provide digital channels for citizens to engage. In order for
police to successfully address the gap between citizen receptivity
and actual use of digital tools, there needs to be an emphasis on
community education to advance understanding about how these new
digital tools, such as mobile apps and social media, will be
used.”
U.S. Findings
U.S. citizens feel safe and see their police as
effective:
- 84 percent of U.S. citizens say they
feel safe in their neighborhood
- 86 percent rate their local police
force as effective
- 80 percent rank preventing crime as the
top service they want their police to provide, ahead of
neighborhood safety (73 percent) and investigating and catching
criminals (78 percent)
Citizens believe the public should play a role in crime
reporting and they are willing to engage
- 75 percent say the public should play a
role in crime reporting
- 73 percent say the public should
participate in neighborhood watch programs
- 68 percent of those without one
currently say they would like a community or neighborhood contact
within the police force
- 65 percent say they would like more
interaction with the police in general
Digital means can facilitate interaction with the police and
are desired by the U.S. public
- 74 percent say the police should
interact with the public via some type of digital means, although
only 44 percent say the police currently interact with the public
in a digital way
- Today, 66 percent are more willing to
engage with the police via social media then they were a year ago,
and 66 percent would use a mobile app created by the police to
obtain information about or report crimes
“According to the survey data, there appears to be increased
citizen expectation of expanded digital interaction with police,
perhaps reflecting greater global trust in digital channels,
including social media, and its potential to enhance public safety.
Police have made progress, but there is tremendous opportunity to
help bridge the expectation gap,” concluded Daly.
About the Survey
The 2014 online citizen survey included 4,000 respondents
(global margin of error ±1.55), across eight countries, with
approximately 500 respondents each from Australia, France, Germany,
the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the
United States (margin of error ±4.38 per country). Data comparisons
from 2012 to 2014 are based on the full set of countries in each
wave. Even when accounting for variations in the markets between
the two waves, patterns in the data show consistent year-over-year
trends.
The survey age categories represented include 30 percent between
18 years and 34 years of age 37 percent between 35 and 54 years of
age and 32 percent who were more than 55 years old. Fifty-one
percent of respondents were female and 49 percent were male when
the survey was conducted by Penn Schoen Berland in August 2014.
Learn more about The Accenture Citizen Pulse Survey on Policing
2014 and Infographic.
Learn more about Accenture’s global Defense & Public
Safety Industry and Delivering Public Service for the
Future.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with more than 305,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most
successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance businesses and governments. The
company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal
year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page
is www.accenture.com.
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AccentureDeirdre M. Blackwood,
703-947-6798deirdre.m.blackwood@accenture.comorMark Radvanyi, + 44
20 7844 5406mark.radvanyi@accenture.com
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