Community-led Technology Adoption

A community-led approach to crime control strategies helps increase public acceptance and support of policing’s efforts to enhance community safety. Similarly, a community-led approach to the adoption of new technology increases the public’s trust and confidence in the police. There is a crucial difference between the police implementing potentially controversial technology like artificial intelligence in a unilateral fashion and their employing a community collaborative approach. In this latter model, interested community members have an opportunity to provide input and help craft decisions about the use of the technology. When the public participates in establishing the “guardrails” for using a specific technology, it is much easier for police leaders to grapple with the public’s apprehension surrounding its use by policing.

In this section we explore the intersection of technological innovation, crime control, community engagement and public sentiment about the police. It is our intention to provide readers with ideas and tools to help facilitate the responsible use of increasingly powerful and complex technologies like AI.