Date of Award
6-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Criminal Justice
Department
Criminal Justice
First Reader/Committee Chair
Bichler, Gisela
Abstract
More law enforcement agencies are adopting social media as a progressive policing strategy each year. They utilize it for several reasons including, community outreach and engagement, public relations, notifying the public of safety concerns, recruitment, intelligence gathering for investigations, among other uses (IACP, 2017). This study explores Southern California Law Enforcements’ use of social media through a survey and content analysis. First, the survey results suggest that more than 93% of departments surveyed concentrate on community outreach through their social media channels. Second, the content analysis results suggest that when media (pictures/video), links, and hashtags (#), are included in posts the more engagement will take place. The more engagement a department receives online the more their voice and message are heard. The results of this study contribute to the sparse literature dedicated to law enforcement and effective use of social media.
Recommended Citation
Rios, Brittany N., "Social Media and the Voice of the Department" (2017). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 532.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/532
Included in
Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons, Social Media Commons