Public safety
Public safety is implemented in the community to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals in society. Adequate public protection is backed up by effective and informed policing because when the law enforcement deals with the problematic society challenges, they are expected to execute with vigilance, equity, and fairness. Effective public policing can be improved through the use of data that can evaluate the existing practices. Public safety often requires criminology solutions, forensic science, technology, cybersecurity, and mental health solutions.The efforts to elevate these areas of public safety work efficiently in reducing risks in the communities. The paper presented will focus on the qualitative and quantitative data analysis that has been used to improve public safety.
Data development and implementation are imperative in improving policing practices through the collection of overall data in the policing systems. Public safety communication is a significant issue due to the failures that occur when law enforcement and first responders respond to large disasters. Interviews done after the 9/11 attack found that after the evacuation orders, only the police got the rules hence helping most people to safety, but the firefighters’ responders did not receive the communication in their gadgets (Peha,2014). The qualitative research shows that a lack of proper communication is not unusual in the public safety departments. Staff members of the Iowa police department reported on the communication barriers, especially on the events that are too small to make the news such as house burns and car chases. Safety communication systems are integral to ensure that the lives of the citizens are protected at all times. Data collection from the first responders that are responsible for the day to day operations showed that the significant challenge is the communication towards the first responders (Kumbhar,2016). The qualitative analysis from the field notes pointed out the technical issues that hinder proper communication, such as the coding processes and the requirements of the protocol before access. The respondents often fail to understand how to operate the communication devices (Sherman,2010). A Data envelopment qualitative analysis on the financial resources required to deploy the necessary communication on public safety. The funds were evaluated and divided between the police and the 100,000 inhabitants of the Iowa State. The crimes represented by the research were homicide, violent crimes, motor vehicle theft, and drug trafficking. The study was aimed at showing how communication equipment is utilized as compared to the needs of public safety.
Research shows that on average, the government uses 1.8 percent of its GDP on public safety. In 2012, the state spent 1 percent of the GDP on public safety hence recording the lowest amount of GDP paid. However, the expenditure has increased in public safety communication equipment concerning the police force and the inhabitants. The communication efficiency rated at 37 percent, especially during serious emergencies. The level of interoperability was estimated at 56 percent after the establishment of multiple systems in the state. The research concluded that the government has intervened to create efficient wireless networks that can address the spectrum of scarcity, thus increasing the rates of response in the public system (Sandelowski,2010).
Both the quantitative and qualitative are essential to public safety because they reflect the complexity of the subject matter. Qualitative research focuses on the meaning of the various elements of public safety, such as communication while the quantitative search obtains the accurate measurements of the subject. The qualitative study on communication shows the interaction of the responders with public safety communication and their limitations, such as complex operations. The quantitative research shows the percentage in government investments in establishing efficient communication equipment in the civil service systems. Both the research methodologies reflect on the overall outlook of communication. Also, using both the research, the derivatives show the gap that can bridge the communication infrastructure and the police force such as training to enable better operations (Sandelowski,2010)
Another qualitative research on public safety on sexual offender registration was conducted among the police officers to determine the effectiveness of the protocol. The interviews conducted found that the majority of the police officers supported the protocol. The interviews conducted showed that at least 8 of of 10 police officers believe in the registration practice as a means for public safety. Also, they found that registering sexual offenders reduced the rate of recidivism. The quantitative study of the same showed that 700,000 sexual offenders are registered in the USA. The research shows that among every 223 offenders, at least 20 are sexually violent predators. According to (Peha,2014), 20 percent of the offenders are registered as transients, absconders, tiers, and non-compliant (Langan and Smith, Durose,2013). The offenders are expected to update their registration quarterly. Both qualitative and quantitative research is essential in this research because the qualitative research illuminates on the perspective of the police on the offenders’ registration. The quantitative research shows the number of offenders the cops have to keep up with to ensure public safety (Duffy and Chenail,2009)
Utilizing quantitative data can be a limiting factor because the data collected often fails to explain the issues in depth. The numerical representation may fail to represent the context of a phenomenon in depth. For example, the research on the costs of communication equipment for public safety does not fully reflect how the machines are utilized. Also, qualitative research can be limiting because the results represent generalized conclusions. The data collection process can be time-consuming, and the analysis can fail to meet those standard categories. For example, the research on sexual offenders’ registration shows that most of the police officers support the activity. The results are generalized to the police community; hence, the results may not fit neatly in standard categories. Moreover, only using qualitative research can make the study a conclusion of ideologies while only using quantitative research can result in numerical outcome without in-depth explanations (Queirós and Faria.2017). Undertaking both studies ensures that the strengths of another balance the limitation of one analysis. The overall information results in a better understanding of the data as opposed to using one type of analysis.
References
Sherman, L. W. (2010). Causes of police behavior: The current state of quantitative research. Journal of research in crime and delinquency, 17(1), 69-100.
Langan, P. A., Smith, E. L., & Durose, M. R. (2013). Recidivism of sex offenders released from prison in 1994. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Queirós, A., Faria, D. (2017). Strengths and limitations of qualitative and quantitative research methods. European Journal of Education Studies.
Duffy, M., & Chenail, R. J. (2009). Values in qualitative and quantitative research. Counseling and values, 53(1), 22-38.
Peha, J. M. (2014). Improving public safety communications. Issues in Science and Technology, 23(2), 61-68.
Kumbhar, A., Koohifar, F., Güvenç, I., & Mueller, B. (2016). A survey on legacy and emerging technologies for public safety communications. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 19(1), 97-124.
Sandelowski, M. (2010). Combining qualitative and quantitative sampling, data collection, and analysis techniques in mixed‐method studies. Research in nursing & health, 23(3), 246-255.
