U.S. public safety networks: Architectural patterns and performance

Abstract

Through this paper we advance insights regarding common patterns among information and communication technology (ICT) architectures (ICTA) found in United States' public safety networks (PSNs). A PSN is an inter-organizational collaboration enabled by ICT to support information sharing and interoperability needs of police and associated public safety organizations. Substantial evidence makes clear the information systems designed and used by PSNs are typically expensiveand complex, support multiple public agencies from different organs of government and span different political and geographic boundaries. Better understanding of PSN ICTA patterns could lead to improved designs and possibly improved performance of these (and perhaps other forms of) multi-agency technology-enabled collaborations. Empirical data from 61 operational PSNs provides the basis for this work. These data were analyzed using fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), an approach ideally suited for detailed analyses across smaller data sets that allows us to assess inter-dependence among variables. Results show that (1) functionally similar configuration patterns of ICTA exist among PSNs and (2) several common architectural patterns are associated with higher levels of PSN performance, but these include a large number of unique successful arrangements. S. Sawyer et al. / U.S. public safety networks: Architectural patterns and performanceMost PSNs involve agencies from multiple levels of government and neighboring geographies. Although all PSNs include police among their key user agencies, not all address the same public safety domains. One can find PSNs supporting the entire gamut of public safety: policing, criminal justice, emergency management and homeland security.More broadly, PSNs reflect the interesting combination of the most modern digital technologies with legacy systems that may be nearly a half-century in age given that government funds for the development of computer-based criminal justice information systems date as far back as the 1960s [28]. Renewed interest in cross-government information sharing and concomitant grant programs (e.g. [27,40, 46]), combined with a broadly perceived need to boost the ability of public safety agencies to collaborate with one another, have led to a proliferation of literature on the need to further develop and understand these public safety initiatives. Public safety interoperability has been a topic of interest to organizations such as the US's Office of Justice Programs, the US Department of Homeland Security, and others (such as SEARCH [27]). Despite this increasing interest in cross-boundary sharing in policing and public safety, Williams et al. [51,52] are the only authors to date who have attempted to complete a comprehensive survey of existing public safety interoperability initiatives. The work reported in this paper advances two contributions to the literature on public safety by examining PSN design through the sociotechnical lens of ICTA. First work presented in this paper prov...

Investigating the determinants of inter-organizational information sharing within criminal justice: A context-mechanism-outcome approach

“…The Police are not obliged to use ELC, which is why the criminal file is not sent via this system in all cases. In addition, the Police have the option to send structured data (i.e., extracted from the IT system) or scanned documents that have been transferred to PDF via ELC…In order to connect EliAs (i.e., the Electronically-Integrated Assistant system) to the other systems in the criminal justice chain, such as ELC and PAD (the system with which the Police work internally), all these systems have been expanded with a specific link that allowed the systems to communicate with each other and documents could be read from one system to the other (Ibid, p. 105/106) Once again, this finding sheds a new light on existing IT governance research (e.g., Benfeldt et al, 2020;Buchwald, Urbach & Ahlemann, 2014;Constantinides & Barrett, 2015;Eaton et al, 2018;Fedorowicz et al, 2018;Sawyer et al, 2013;etc. ) because it emphasizes the role of technology as a governance structure that goes above and beyond other regulative forces enshrined within social structures.…”

“…Furthermore, Pardo et al (2012) have devised a model of multi-dimensional capabilities for information sharing within e-Government that includes both social (e.g., strategic, governance, and operational capabilities) and technological dimensions (e.g., business architectures, security standards, and technology compatibility). By the same token, Sawyer et al, (2013) have developed a framework that embodies the strategic, operational, and technological dimensions that play a central role in understanding the function of ITs in digital government and identified two core configurations of successful IT-enabled information sharing revolving around data management issues (Courts) and integration and interoperability issues (Police). Lastly, and related to Sawyer's et al (2013) findings, Fedorowicz et al (2018) have stressed the importance of network-level governance competencies to manage stakeholders and information infrastructures in the context of PSNs.…”

“…analysis of relevant e-Government literature (e.g., Bélanger & Carter, 2012;Fedorowicz et al 2018;Gil-Garcia et al 2005;Kubicek, Cimander, & Scholl, 2011;Pardo, et al 2012;Sawyer, et al 2013). More specifically, drawing on practitioners' insights gleaned from minifocus groups and the idea that the digitization of paper files is a complex socio-technical process that encompasses strategic (e.g., deliberate planning), operational (e.g., project management and implementation), and technological dimensions (e.g., compatible systems) (Gil-Garcia & Sayogo, 2016;Sawyer et al, 2013), we identified three core determinants of successful inter-organizational information sharing: 1) Compatibility: this contextual condition explains whether the criminal justice system organizations are able to communicate between and among each other securely. It refers to IT systems that must be standardized, consistent, and interconnected; 2) Project management: this contextual condition explains whether IT projects are on schedule and within budget (Wirick, 2009).…”

“…Or can they be reconciled somehow? Building on the fledgling literature on governance of information-sharing initiatives within the public sector (e.g., Fedorowicz et al, 2018;Sawyer et al, 2013;etc. ), we highlight an emergent approach of IT governance that challenges the traditional view of top-down governance.…”

Governance Configurations for Inter-Organizational Coordination: A Study of Public Safety Networks

“…First, we include two distinguishing aspects of PSN that may help to differentiate among the political forces that affect PSN formation: type and legal arrangement. In prior research (Sawyer et al, 2013), we have shown PSN with common goals and shared information infrastructure fall into two broad and distinct types (as police-oriented or as court-oriented). We include categorization of these types in the analysis to assess if the particular orientation of the PSN plays a special role in its governance.…”