"malmö is not Sweden's Chicago": Policing and the challenge of creating a sense of safety through social media strategies

Abstract

This article explores Swedish Police Authority strategies on creating a sense of safety through social media. Previous research has generally focused on proximity policing, practices of informing citizens, proactive police work, crime reduction, surveillance, and preservation of trust and less on the digital creation of a sense of safety. The study consists of semistructured interviews with 20 police officers, media strategists, and communicators from the Swedish Police Authority in a region associated with high crime rates. The results of this national case study indicate that a social media-driven creation of a sense of safety depends on how the intertwined strategies of transmediality, presence, and transparency are communicatively handled. This article adds to the literature by demonstrating how the Swedish Police in Police Region South (PRS) use and understand social media to create a sense of safety.