Effective communication is a tool for improving services to suit the needs of the public. The police employ different ways to communicate with the public on what they do and how they do it. By doing this, the police interact with the community, listen to their views, and act upon them to improve police service delivery. This paper discusses one way of police communication to the public, its purpose, benefit, and a downfall.
Open data is one way of police communication. This method allows data produced by various public bodies to be available to the public. This method is electronic, but it can as well cover the physical formats (Stephens, Hill, & Greenberg, 2012) . The purpose of the Open data method is to allow the public to put the public bodies into toes through accountability. For example, the public can see all the expenditure by the public body. This, in turn, boosts transparency. Another purpose is to allow comparisons among various bodies, allowing the exchange of ideas and reducing the information demand through the freedom of information legislation.
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Open data communication is used in various ways. For instance, the police in the UK gives data on crime to the public. This data is used when attending beat gatherings to provide information about justice outcomes, senior officers’ hospitality expenditure is available on the internet, and financial data on various public bodies are released to platforms accessible to the public.
One advantage of open-data communication is that everyone can access the data. This way, the police agencies and officers are more careful in their dealings; hence service delivery to the public is improved. Also, open data has its disadvantages. Although the method aims at providing information to everyone, it is posted on websites that need registration to access the information. This creates a barrier to access to the information; thus, its prime purpose is lost.
Overall, open-data is one of the ways of police communication. Its purpose is to ensure transparency and efficiency. Just like any other method, it has its advantages and disadvantages.
Reference
Stephens, D. W., Hill, J., & Greenberg, S. (2012). Strategic Communication Practices: A Toolkit for Police Executives. BiblioGov.
