he use of social media by the police is considered an innovation in public safety, creating value and generating benefits for both external and internal users. This work aimed to conduct a sys- tematic literature review and analyze, according to international literature, how social media is being used by police departments. Through a specific search in six databases and additional information from Google Scholar, 4,814 candidate primary studies were retrieved. With the help of the picoc pro- tocol, and after applying exclusion criteria and quality parameters, 70 articles were analyzed. In addi- tion to bibliometric information, it was found that the most used social media platforms are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The main results reveal that the police use of these platforms goes beyond communication, information, and interaction with the public, aiming for engagement and action during emergencies and pandemics. Social media contributes to improving police surveil- lance, crime deterrence, and disorder control activities. Additionally, this work sheds light on the topic in the academic arena, proposing research opportunities. As a limitation, it is noted that the analysis only includes qualified literature, and therefore, some articles may not have been included because they did not meet the chosen parameters.

Abstract

The use of social media by the police is considered an innovation in public safety, creating value and generating benefits for both external and internal users. This work aimed to conduct a systematic literature review and analyze, according to international literature, how social media is being used by police departments. Through a specific search in six databases and additional information from Google Scholar, 4.814 candidate primary studies were retrieved. With the help of the PICOC protocol, and after applying exclusion criteria and quality parameters, 70 articles were analyzed. In addition to bibliometric information, it was found that the most used social media platforms are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The main results reveal that the police use of these platforms goes beyond communication, information, and interaction with the public, aiming for engagement and action during emergencies and pandemics. Social media contributes to improving police surveillance, crime deterrence, and disorder control activities. Additionally, this work sheds light on the topic in the academic arena, proposing research opportunities. As a limitation, it is noted that the analysis only includes qualified literature, and therefore, some articles may not have been included because they did not meet the chosen parameters.