Examining the Public Perception of Law Enforcement: A Twitter User Engagement Analysis With the Dallas Police Department

Abstract

The emergence of social media platforms has revolutionized communication and interaction across various domains, including law enforcement, and users have increasingly utilized these platforms to express their opinions and consume information. This research chapter focuses on evaluating user responses and behaviors on Twitter presenting an analysis of tweets mentioning the Dallas Police Department. Data analysis is performed to investigate tweet frequency and patterns related to the law enforcement agency. Additionally, sentiment analysis and topic modeling techniques are employed to gain deeper insights into the content and context of user tweets. The research findings reveal that users tend to increase their tweeting activity whenever there is an incident involving the agency. Moreover, the results indicate that users generally express a neutral sentiment towards the law enforcement agency, with their tweets largely reflecting personal opinions. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into user behavior and sentiments concerning the Dallas Police Department, demonstrating the significant role of social media platforms in shaping public perceptions and online interactions with the agency.