Effectiveness of Crowdsourcing as a Support for Public Safety

Bearing in mind the dilemmas of public security in Brazil, this research aims to investigate the potential use of crowdsourcing in public security. The Delphi method (a structured use of expert knowledge) was employed in order to clarify issues related to its adoption, required resources, and impacts on investigative activity, among others, and, in this case, the research was conducted together with members of the judicial police who perform investigative work. Two rounds of consultation were conducted, with 29 respondents in the first round and 21 respondents in the second round. Results show wide acceptance with regard to information sharing among public security professionals and citizens; however, there is no consensus among experts about the effectiveness of actions involving direct participation of senior management, such as investments or planning of crowdsourcing strategic actions aimed at the general public. This indicates an absence of long-term strategic policies and the existence of institutional obstacles for the full exploitation of new technologies in the sphere of public security.