Influence policing: exploring the use of targeted digital 'nudge' communications by law enforcement in the UK

Collier, Ben; Horgan, Shane

Abstract

This paper describes an emerging phenomenon in UK policing: the use of behavioural ‘nudge’ communications campaigns. These campaigns are both a reaction to a UK political and policing context of multiple overlapping crises, many of which are perceived by government to have a ‘digital’ aspect, and also part of an ongoing professionalisation of public sector communications. We study the use of these campaigns by a single force - Police Scotland - in depth, drawing on empirical research conducted with their dedicated strategic communications team. These campaigns, which involve targeted digital communications designed to directly ‘nudge’ behaviour and shape the culture of particular groups, began in counter-radicalisation as part of the UK’s Prevent programme, but have since moved into a range of other policing areas, from child sexual abuse, to domestic violence, knife crime, and cybercrime. They use the highly-developed digital advertising infrastructure to profile and segment the public, which facilitates targeting adverts to particular groups based on demographics, location, and online behaviour. We study the developing institutional and professional arrangements around these campaigns in Police Scotland through interviews and document-based research, exploring case studies of campaigns across a range of areas. We also highlight two particularly interesting examples from UK preventative policing involving ‘hybrid hotspots’, both of which show police using the targeting infrastructure as a digital overlay on physical spaces. We then give an overview of the wider landscape of these kinds of digital behaviour change communications campaigns for preventative policing across the UK. Taking these together, we theorise the rise of influence policing as an embryonic but rapidly emerging domain of police practice, and the attempts to establish influence officers as a legitimate sub-profession within the police. Finally, we discuss the implications for potential UK policing futures, and ethical and democratic critiques of these strategies.

Citation

Collier, B., & Horgan, S. (2023, September). Influence policing: exploring the use of targeted digital 'nudge' communications by law enforcement in the UK. Presented at 23rd Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, Florence, Italy

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: 23rd Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology
• Start Date: Sep 6, 2023
• End Date: Sep 9, 2023
• Acceptance Date: Jun 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Dec 6, 2024
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed