Evaluating the Design and Implementation of CP-Support Technologies: A Participatory Framework

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly used to support Community Policing in order to strengthen, facilitate and accelerate the communication between citizens and police. In this chapter we present a participatory framework that can help to make the development and implementation of ICTs more effective. We base our evaluation framework on five main methodological characteristics: consecutive piloting, longitudinal perspective, multi-stakeholder view, multi-level approach and finally the triangulation of findings from various outcome levels. We argue for a short-, mid- and long-term evaluation approach with consecutive pilots to account for the interdependent nature of the technology and its social context. Next to this we give concrete examples for evaluation criteria of the functionality, acceptance and impact evaluation of a tool. Finally, we summarize our chapter with recommendations for ICT evaluations in complex context in general.