Adapted technology acceptance model for mobile policing

Purpose – In light of a growing trend towards mobile information management and a UK drive for police forces to implement mobile technologies and realise significant benefits, it important to examine the factors affecting officer acceptance. There appears to be little understanding the key factors, yet this is critical to the success of the initiative. The purpose of this paper is to the main factors that influence the usage of mobile technologies amongst police officers./methodology/approach – A qualitative, partially ethnographic design was followed to an in-depth exploration of this issue. The study was based on a mixed-methods longitudinal study of the implementation of mobile technologies within a UK police force over nine-month period. The technology acceptance model (TAM) and the subsequent TAM2 and TAM3, then reengineered to provide a suitable theoretical model for a mobile policing context. – In total, four main categories of officer acceptance factors were identified: officer, security/reliability, management style and cognitive acceptance. Evidence from the showed a key shortfall in all three versions of the TAM in that they focus on the user perspective did not confirm the broader organisational factors within the implementation and social contexts mobile policing./value – Consequently, an adapted mobile-TAM(m-TAM) was produced that incorporated factors into the existing TAM elements. The high-level nature of the adapted model for mobile means it could be applied by other police forces and potentially other organisations, regardless of type of mobile device implemented, to address the barriers to acceptance. The m-TAM addresses the for a more relevant and robust model to the mobile policing paradigm, which goes beyond the static environment in which the TAM2 and TAM3 were built.