TY - JOUR
T1 - Police engagement with football fans online during the English 2022/23 season
AU - Ralph, Liam
AU - Aitken, Adam
AU - Robinson, Paul
PY - 2024/9/30
Y1 - 2024/9/30
N2 - Dialogue policing favours constructive forms of police-fan engagement, and there is overwhelming evidence that it leads to greater trust and self-regulation behaviours amongst fans. However, little is known about if and how dialogue policing can be facilitated online. To this end, five police football accounts in England were studied on the social media platform X across the 2022/23 season. Research findings show that the police used three key tactics, linked to chatting about congenial subject matter, influencing fans’ movements and behaviour, and tackling crime and disorder. On one hand, police football accounts used a soft communication approach, and yet two-way communication was rare. This is significant because it shows that the police incorporated elements of dialogue-based policing, although more must now be done by the police to speak with and not to fans.
AB - Dialogue policing favours constructive forms of police-fan engagement, and there is overwhelming evidence that it leads to greater trust and self-regulation behaviours amongst fans. However, little is known about if and how dialogue policing can be facilitated online. To this end, five police football accounts in England were studied on the social media platform X across the 2022/23 season. Research findings show that the police used three key tactics, linked to chatting about congenial subject matter, influencing fans’ movements and behaviour, and tackling crime and disorder. On one hand, police football accounts used a soft communication approach, and yet two-way communication was rare. This is significant because it shows that the police incorporated elements of dialogue-based policing, although more must now be done by the police to speak with and not to fans.
KW - Police
KW - Dialogue Policing
KW - Mega Events
KW - football
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85206305565&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/police/paae102
DO - 10.1093/police/paae102
M3 - Article
SN - 1752-4512
VL - 18
JO - Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice
JF - Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice
M1 - paae102
ER -