RT Article
T1 Examining the Determinants of  Police Department Online Transparency
JF Criminology, criminal justice, law & society
VO 18
IS 1
SP 52
OP 70
A1 Chanin, Joshua M. 1976-
A2 Courts, Jacob
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1580366481
AB This study draws on the economic principle of supply and demand to examine police department online transparency. A sample of 350 department websites was evaluated using a 26-point index. To explain variation among the resultant transparency scores, several hypotheses are tested in order to identify the determinants of agency openness. Six hypotheses are driven by the notion that public demand—in the form of federally led organizational reform, legislation mandating data dissemination, and the presence of independent, civilian oversight—will correlate with increased transparency. Three others predict that ‘supply’ indicators, characteristics reflective of departmental openness, including the use of community policing strategies, the pursuit of agency accreditation, and voluntary participation in a longitudinal research study, will be positively correlated with openness. Results from several multiple regression models show support for three of nine hypotheses, with broad implications for both theory and public policy.
K1 Police
K1 Transparency
K1 Accountability
K1 Internet
K1 Website,
K1 Data
K1 Information