Assessing police social media practices through a democratic policing lens

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 outlook. This is despite the fact that there has been considerable debate on the extent to which the internet has democratised 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 international 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.