This report focuses on the use of statistics around policing in the media and complements our first report on the use of statistics on policing in public debate, where we explored perceptions of public discourse about policing; how well statistics describe policing; and what might prevent statistics from better informing public understanding. It has allowed us to show how public conversations have changed and highlights potential gaps in the public debate and related statistics.
It is our first output in a series of trials to see how we can make better use of automation and technology to inform our work. It makes use of web-scraping and text analysis to gain insights into the media dialogue on policing. While at this stage there are limitations to the conclusions we can draw, it does move us a significant step forward in understanding relevant issues and developing our capability. The work offers additional insight, which complements our more traditional approaches to gathering information and can help us challenge our assumptions.
Related Links:
Use of Policing Statistics in Public Discourse (March 2019)
Systemic Review overview: The value of statistics on policing to public debate