Running head: Effects of Social Media on Law enforcement 1

Effects of Social Media on Law enforcement

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
Effects of Social Media on Law enforcement 2

Introduction

In a couple of years, the US media has received a lot of criticism especially from the

minority groups especially on how they portray law enforcement officers. The media has

always portrayed police officers as a disciplined force a fact that does not auger well with the

minority groups. Although smartphones have made it easy for victims of police brutality to

share their stories more so on social media sites, their attempts to attract the press to address

these issues have not yielded much fruits (Jael). The media has always ignored the reality and

has maintained with its biasness. This paper will expound on the effects the media, including

social media, has on the people’s perceptions about law enforcement.

Mass media information feeds to the general public, their false positive impression of

police officers usually hinders the media’s impact on the minority society’s perception

regarding law enforcement since it’s not in line with what the community experiences. This

fact creates an impression that despite the tendency to believe what media houses or social

media feed the public regarding law enforcement, minorities through their own experiences

think differently (Denef, Bayerl & Kaptein, 2013). The negative ideas about law enforcement

officers that are hatched by the minorities came as a result of persistent brutality meted at

them without responsible authorities coming to their rescue. So however how much the media

tries to connect the minorities with police officers the fact remains the same.

A study sponsored by the National Institute of Justice indicates that in Los Angeles

area, only 35% of residents’ opinions regarding police officers were influenced by the media.

The other 65% of the residents’ opinions were influenced by the residents encounter with law

enforcement officers. With regards to US Census Bureau survey, Los Angeles which is the

most populous county has the minority majority, and among the interviewed residents, those

with informal police contacts especially the whites had positive opinions regarding police
Effects of Social Media on Law enforcement 3

(Denef, Bayerl & Kaptein, 2013). The minority majority who had formal police contacts of

Spanish origin had low approval despite the medias attempt to portray the police in a positive

way. From the survey report it was also reported that media information reliance depends on

the person receiving it. For instance, if it’s the minority, media information is not easily

believed but if it’s the whites, there is likelihood that the person will believe it (McMains &

Mullins, 2014).

Society members who have informal contact only with the police rely more on the

news and other forms of media with regards to their perception of the law enforcement

officers thus their positive opinions regarding the force. The minorities’ negative view of the

force is due to inhuman experiences they have endured in the hands of officers that are

contrary with what the media publicizes. For instance, Television shows together with movies

try to create a good impression about the police but whatever they create is not true

representation of reality (McMains & Mullins, 2014). So TV shows content and other

publications leave a significant portion of truth out and what remains is pure propaganda.

This fact is the reason why media causes insignificant influence to people especially the

minority’s reliance in information about law enforcement officers in the society.

Mainstream media is usually in favor of law enforcement tactics and is rarely concern

about complaints regarding police brutality. According to media researchers report, police

and media have a beneficial relationship which perpetuates the ineffectiveness of policing

effectiveness. For instance, mass media relies on information given by police officers

regarding crime and community and on the other hand, police will benefit from the positive

portrayal from the media. In a nutshell, the cops are advantaged by the positive impression

created by the press due to their significant influence on the white majority in the US since

they work together especially in reporting various community events (Jael). Although few
Effects of Social Media on Law enforcement 4

individuals deserve praise in police force, the press always generalizes individual victories

and praises law enforcement including those who don’t deserve it.

Conclusion

Law enforcement officials over the past few years have received significant criticism

from the public especially the minority groups in the US. This proposition comes despite the

fact that the mainstream media has kept their stand of portraying the police as a disciplined

force whose performance is at its best. From media researchers however, they claim that the

media works in cahoots with the police a fact that makes the media to ignore anything that

taints the police image something that makes the people especially the minority to ignore

media information regarding the police image.

Effects of Social Media on Law enforcement 5

References

Denef, S., Bayerl, P. S., & Kaptein, N. A. (2013, April). Social media and the police:

tweeting practices of british police forces during the August 2011 riots. In

proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp.

3471-3480). ACM.

Jael, G. The Media’s Role in Police-Community Relations.

McMains, M. J., & Mullins, W. C. (2014). Crisis negotiations: Managing critical incidents

and hostage situations in law enforcement and corrections. Routledge.