British Ltofar and Econo™
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British Ltofar and Econo™ The Rhythms of Interaction with Mobile Technologies Tales from the Police Daniele Nicola Pica Department of Information Systems London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE United Kingdom June 2006 Dissertation submitted in the fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the faculty of Economics at the University of London UMI Number: U228626 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U228626 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 TO MY MOTHER A bstr a c t This dissertation is concerned with understanding the dynamics surrounding the usage of Mobile Information and Communication Technologies (MICT) within the context of the police force in the United Kingdom. The opportunities arising from MICT and their rapid uptake have led to a great number of texts studying their impact and effectiveness. However, these studies have a superficial understanding of the context of use of MICT, are mainly concerned with improving the efficiency of one particular police task, and consider little usage of MICT as a technological, organizational or individual failure. Given the pervasive nature of MICT and the strong link that these create between institutions and geographically dispersed individuals, this dissertation argues that there is a need to investigate the process of MICT use as interconnected to the situations of its use. This further requires an appreciation of context not only at the situated level but also at the institutional level. The dissertation argues that such appreciation is afforded by a phenomenological understanding of police work and of MICT use that centers upon the concept of intentionality. The dissertation examines how MICT usage evolves through a number of situations as faced by various police units.Framework The of Virtuality is constructed to delineate the concept of context and is later applied to a qualitative ethnographic case study presented through narratives. The findings illuminate the dynamics of MICT use and illustrate that MICT use is neither linear, nor dependent on the functional capabilities of the technology. Rather, MICT use is discontinuous. MICT need to disappear from the context of work to permit for the intentionality of police action to surface in situated activities. This leads the dissertation to infer that the intentionality of policing is at odds with the projected activities suggested by MICT - and with the rhetoric surrounding its use and implementation. The thesis is that the current orientation and understanding of MICT influence the intentionality of policing in the UK directing towards a more mechanistic relation with the public. The dissertation makes a theoretical contribution by proposingFramework the o f Virtuality for understanding and studying MICT in work contexts. It furthers offers methodological insights for studying MICT through observational ethnographic techniques and narrative. Finally, it provides practical implications regarding the deployment of MICT in police forces. 3 A cknowledgments Throughout the intellectual journey of the PhD, I have received constant support and love from a number of people. First of all I would like to thank my father and my uncle Nick for their love and support throughout these years. My thanks extend without reservations to my whole family. I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Professor Ian Angell, whose advice and encouragement have helped me get through the dissertation. In addition, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Dr. Carsten Sorensen, my second supervisor. Dr. Carsten Sorensen has been and is a guide and a friend who has tolerated me even in the darkest moments of the PhD. I will never forget the day he broke me into my case study settings, the back of a police car, and I will forever owe him. Furthermore he has believed in my abilities and encouraged me throughout the whole process. Whitout him this dissertation would not have come into being. I would like to thank Dr. Jannis Kallinikos. He has been an inspiring person in the shaping of the framework underlying the PhD. He has managed to elevate my interest into the theoretical aspects of information systems and has been a true teacher. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Antonio Cordelia for being a friend and an inspiring figure through all these years. Thank you to Dr. David Allen for arranging the first meeting with a police representative, to Dr. Urban Nulden for various helpful comments, and to Mr. Tony Kemp for arranging and supervising my stay with the police. My deepest gratitude goes to all the police officers (you know who you are) who participated in the study. My gratitude extends to many of my fellow PhD colleagues, especially those who have began the intellectual journey with me: Dr. Ruth Halperin, Mr. Antonio Herrera, Ms. Hazel Gillards, Mrs. Sarah Tatcher, and Dr. Cameron Lawrence. In addition, thanks are due to many members of the Department of Information Systems at the London School of Economics and Political Science and to the anonymous reviewers who have helped refine my research with constructive comments. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Paul Mervis for his advice on the language of the dissertation, and for being a friend throughout this time. 4 L ist of A c r o n y m s AI - Artificial Intelligence ANPR - Automatic Number Plate Recognition AQ - Active Queue of Incidents on the MDT CAD - Computer Aided Dispatching CCTV - Closed Circuit Television CID - Investigating Police Branch CIS - Crime Information System CSCW - Computer-Supported Collaborative Work G83 - Property Storage Room GPS - Global Positioning System HCI - Human-Computer Interaction ICCS - Integrated Telephone and Radio System ICT - Information and Communication Technologies IS - Information Systems IT - Information Technology 5 KB - Force wide radio MICT - Mobile Information and Communication Technologies MDT - Mobile Data Terminal 01S - Command and Control System PC - Police Constable PDA - Personal Digital Assistant PNC - Police National Computer Background Check on people and vehicles PR - Personal Radio RV - Response Vehicle SCT - Social Contract Theory SMS - Short Messaging Service SOCO - Scene of Crime Officer 6 C o n ten t s ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................................................................................................................4 LIST OF ACRONYMS..........................................................................................................................................5 CONTENTS............................................................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES..............................................................................................................................................10 LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH ISSUES_________________________________12 1.1 M o tiv a tio n a n d Sco pe o f t h e Re se a r c h ..................................................................................................................13 1.2 Defin itio n o f ICT a n d M IC T ..........................................................................................................................................16 1.3 T he Resea rch Q uestio ns T h ro u g h o u t th e D issertation............................................................................... 18 1.4 Cu rren t Sta tu s o f Resea rch on MICT a n d Po l ic e............................................................................................19 1.5 O bjectives o f Rese a r c h .................................................................................................................................................. 21 1.6 St r u c t u r e oD f issertation.......................................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................................................25 2.1 Po lice W o rk a n d IC T .......................................................................................................................................................26 2.1.1 A Brief History of Police Work in the UK............................................................................................................ 26 2.1.2 The Mobile Nature of Police Work.........................................................................................................................29 2.1.3 The Four Periods of