Event Details

3PO, findings so far from investigating protecting police and their dependants online.

Security Lancaster Seminar with Dr Ingolf Becker (Univ. College London) | (host Dr. Charles Weir)

Wed 28th February 2024, 4pm-5pm | Microsoft Teams

3PO, findings so far from investigating protecting police and their dependants online.

Abstract:

Public-facing professionals, such as police officers, carry out their work under public scrutiny and are increasingly confronted with online aggression and threats in relation to their work (e.g., unwanted identification, ‘trial by social media’, and online harassment). This can negatively affect police officers’ professional standing, well-being, and ability to participate in the digital sphere. However, these online negative consequences faced by police officers, so often viewed as ‘part of the job’, can also spill over into their personal lives. This has serious repercussions for partners, children, and other dependants. Indeed, families have been forced to move homes, change schools, and in Northern Ireland deal with car bombs, as a result of police officers’ identities being revealed online. Despite these considerable implications, a rapid review of the literature shows a lack of research in this area.

I will give an overview of our UKRI-funded research project aimed at protecting police officers and their families from online harm. With over 100 interviews conducted with officers, partners and dependants at six police forces, we can explore the online risks police officers and their families face in their personal lives as ordinary citizens and work towards co-designing effective policy, training and protection measures.

Bio:

Ingolf Becker is a Lecturer in Security and Crime Science in the Department of Security and Crime Science at University College London. He currently leads UCL's part of the 3-year ESPRC project Protecting public-facing professionals and their dependants online (3PO). His research focuses on human-centred security and privacy. Ingolf’s work is fundamentally driven by the understanding that security and privacy are never the primary task but should instead be seen as an enabler for productivity and society more generally. He works with people and organisations to build and study systems and policies that are both secure and productive.