PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT:

AN ANALYSIS OF TWITTER USER ENGAGEMENT WITH THE DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT

Authors

  • Tereza Raquel Merlo University of North Texas
  • Nayana Madali Pampapura University of North Texas
  • Jason Merlo Texas Department of Public and Safety

Keywords:

social media; , sentiment analysis;, law enforcement;, user behavior;, data visualization

Abstract

The emergence of social media platforms has revolutionized communication and interaction
across various domains, including law enforcement, and users have increasingly utilized these
platforms to express their opinions and consume information. This research paper focuses on
evaluating user responses and behaviors on Twitter presenting an analysis of tweets mentioning
the Dallas Police Department. Data analysis is performed to investigate tweet frequency and
patterns related to the law enforcement agency. Additionally, sentiment analysis and topic
modeling techniques are employed to gain deeper insights into the content and context of user
tweets. The research findings reveal that users tend to increase their tweeting activity whenever
there is an incident involving the agency. Moreover, the results indicate that users generally
express a neutral sentiment towards the law enforcement agency, with their tweets largely
reflecting personal opinions. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into user behavior
and sentiments concerning the Dallas Police Department, demonstrating the significant role of
social media platforms in shaping public perceptions and online interactions with the agency

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Author Biographies

Nayana Madali Pampapura, University of North Texas

Nayana Pampapura Madali is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Texas (UNT) majoring in Data Science. She has published six journal papers and several conference papers. Her research interests include social media analytics, big data analytics, natural language processing, information behavior, machine learning and misinformation. She is also a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Information Science at UNT. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., Nayana worked as Data Analyst and has around 7 years of experience working in various IT industries. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, spending time outdoors, listening to music, baking and reading.

Jason Merlo, Texas Department of Public and Safety

Jason Merlo is a Forensic Scientist in the field of Friction Ridge who has been employed with the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory since 2009. He is licensed as a Latent Print Analyst by the Texas Forensic Science Commission. Jason has taught AFIS operator workshops to law enforcement personnel from agencies across the state of Texas for more than ten years, and has served as a reviewer for the development of a friction ridge examination course for Sam Houston State University. He is also the Editor of Lone Star Forensic Journal. His research interests include the history of knowledge of the friction ridge skin, history of the use of friction ridge skin as a means of personal identification, and friction ridge feature variability. His most recent paper is titled Hermann Welcker’s Contribution to the Study of Friction Ridge Persistency.

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Published

2023-12-02

How to Cite

Merlo, T. R., Pampapura, N. M., & Merlo, J. (2023). PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT:: AN ANALYSIS OF TWITTER USER ENGAGEMENT WITH THE DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT. International Congress of Knowledge and Innovation - Ciki, 1(1). Retrieved from https://proceeding.ciki.ufsc.br/index.php/ciki/article/view/1381

Issue

2023: Proceedings of the XIII International Congress on Knowledge and Innovation (ciKi) - Preliminary Version

Section

Full Paper

License

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