Accessibility and Trust: Public Experiences and Expectations of Technologically-Mediated Police-Public Contact

• In Event: Building Trust: Strategies for Strengthening the Police-Community Relationship

Abstract

INTERACT is a UK based mixed-methods study of the use of technology in interactions between the police and public. It considers recent shifts towards technologically-mediated contact (Wells et al., 2023), to explore whether, and how, police organisations can pursue their aims of providing a procedurally just experience for users, and build legitimacy with various publics, whilst fundamentally changing the nature and form of police contact. In this paper we analyse data from focus groups and interviews with the members of the public in urban and rural case study areas and with deaf community/British Sign Language users and autistic individuals. We are particularly interested in their views and experiences, given pre-existing low levels of trust and confidence in the police and varying communication needs. We reflect on the concerns and desires of our participants, and on how accessibility and inclusion feature in police decision making for new technologies. We explore how the public feel about the different ways the police can be seen and contacted and analyse shared and divergent views amongst various publics.

Authors

• Elizabeth Aston, Edinburgh Napier University

• Estelle Clayton, Edinburgh Napier University

• Robert Skinner, Heriot-Watt University

• Will Andrews, Keele University

• Megan Eileen O'Neill, Dundee University

• Helen Wells, Keele University

• Ben Bradford, University College London