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Accenture Releases Survey on Digital Police Solutions

November 24, 2014

Accenture has released a new survey on digital police solutions and how police can better serve their citizens using technology.

The company took a survey of 4,000 people in eight countries. Of those surveyed, 66 percent wanted more digital interaction with their local police. In addition, 79 percent of them preferred interacting with police over digital media rather than face-to-face.


“Perhaps this pro-digital stance is unsurprising in a social culture where ‘always on, always aware’ connectivity is the norm,” Accenture’s report said. “What the survey findings highlight, however, is that certain technologies are considered fundamental to communication and interaction between citizens and the police.”

Citizens do think that their police are using social media. In 2012, when Accenture did another similar study, only 20 percent of citizens thought that their police used digital channels. In 2014, that number doubled to 40 percent. Still, a lot of people think it could be better. In fact, 77 percent of those surveyed said that more police should use digital channels to communicate to the public.

As more people shift to mobile for their Internet use, they expect the police to do the same thing. Of the respondents, 89 percent said they were comfortable with police using mobile devices.

People in different countries had different feelings about matters of crime and justice. In Singapore, 91 percent of people said they felt safe. In France, only 69 percent of people said they felt safe. Australians were more likely to interact with the police, with 84 percent of them doing so online and 78 percent saying they should participate in neighborhood watch programs.

Accenture recommended several ways for police to improve their presence on social media. The company said they should adopt a “show and tell” approach, showing the challenges they face on social media and interacting with the public, adopt a “prevention is better than cure” approach to crime and balance a physical presence with an online presence.




Edited by Maurice Nagle



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