PhD Candidate Publishes Research on the Effects of Social Media on Policing

Carleton University’s Greg Brown, doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, has published research on the effects of social media, camera phones and other technology on policing. His research entitled The Blue Line on Thin Ice: Police Use of Force Modifications in the Era of Cameraphones and YouTube, was recently published in the prestigious British Journal of Criminology.

“This study of front-line, veteran, urban police officers suggests that these new realities in public policing function as a disciplining influence that is present in officers’ consciousness as they perform their duties–detering potential use-of-force misconduct,” said Brown.

Brown’s research looks at the influence of policing’s new visibility on front-line officers. Participants in the project included 231 operational police officers and institutional policing officials in Toronto and Ottawa. The study found that the increased video-recording capabilities of citizens and opportunities to disseminate footage of police activities over social media are making a profound impact on most rank-and-file officers and have influenced significant changes in practices, including moderations in police violence.

“The socio-political and techno-social landscapes for front-line police work have drastically changed over the last 10 years,” said Brown. “The proliferation of new technologies, such as camera phones and security cameras, that have increased the visibility of police in the field, the interconnectivity of individuals through social media and a public that is more inquisitive of, and engaged in, how policing is being conducted have contributed to representations of police conduct that now seem to be everywhere. Controversial policing occurrences that are documented through video recordings now feature prominently and frequently in mainstream and online media.”