Views of Tertiary Students on Contribution of Social Media to Increase Law Enforcement

Social Media providing opportunities for people, government agencies, and organizations in order to communicate with each other and provide better service to their citizens and customers. This study seeks to explore the contribution of Social Media to increase law enforcement in North Cyprus. For this study, quantitative methodology has been favored. Data is collected from the tertiary students at the Eastern Mediterranean University. Perceptions of Police Survey, Survey of Online Social Media and Helping Police Use Online Social Media (HPUOSM) are used. Findings show that participants have positive views about police. The female participants have more positive views about police than male participants. The participants whose family members did not commit a crime, believe that, police is unfair to citizens more than the participants whose family member committed a crime. Moreover, results indicate that participants generally agree with the statements of Survey of HPUOSM*Part 1 and strongly agree with the statements of Survey of HPUOSM *Part 2. Indeed, the participants who are 18-24 years old, like to use and have positive views for using Social Media and believe that using Social Media are helpful for police more than the participants who are 25-34 years old. Also, the participants who are Turkish, like to use and have positive views for using Social Media and using Social Media is helpful for police more than the participants who are Turkish Cypriots or who are from different nationalities. Social Media contributes to personal relationships with residents by spreading information about performance and government agencies. Thus, using Social Media can contribute law enforcement.