Teresa Derrick-Mills

The George Washington University, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, Faculty Member

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Matthew J Weait

University of Oxford

David Seamon

Kansas State University

Daniel Binns

RMIT University

Nihat Celik

San Diego State University

Valentina Baú

Western Sydney University

Waqas Tufail

Leeds Beckett University

Adam Fish

The University of New South Wales

Panos Panagiotopoulos

Queen Mary, University of London

Alfitri Alfitri

IAIN SAMARINDA

Stephen Rice

Seattle University

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Refereed Articles by Teresa Derrick-Mills

Electronic Commons, Community Policing and Communication: On-Line Police-Citizen Discussion Groups in Washington, DC.

by Lori Brainard and Teresa Derrick-Mills

In recent years, scholars and practitioners have bemoaned the decline in public life. The "common... more In recent years, scholars and practitioners have bemoaned the decline in public life. The "commons," as the worry goes, is shrinking. The article investigates the effort by the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department (DC MPD) to facilitate an electronic commons in which residents and police department personnel can work together, via online discussion groups, to address crime and safety issues. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the article analyzes the threads originating between July 2005 and December 2007 to answer two research questions. Do the online discussion groups fulfill the spirit of an electronic commons? What is the nature of the online relationship between the police and the community? The findings show that although DC MPD has created an avenue for online discussion, it has had mixed success in creating an electronic commons. Insights are provided for public administrators for fostering social media to create an electronic commons, and suggestions for future scholarship.

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