Innovation in public security: a bibliometric study

Abstract:

Public security is a complex topic that encompasses different languages, actors and disciplines. It is interpreted from multiple paradigms and under different approaches that influence, from the most abstract stages of conceptualization and perception of insecurity, to phases of dissent about concrete proposals for its confrontation and control. Increasingly, public governance, academics, the private sector, and civil society are joining together in a network to address this issue, which has repercussions on the most fundamental human rights. This multiplicity of perspectives needs to be carefully understood and synthesized. For this reason, the present study was developed, which aims to outline the general picture of published scientific knowledge about innovation in public security. This is a descriptive study, with a quantitative approach and a bibliometric review. 261 publications were analyzed, without time, space or language filter, found in the Scopus database, based on the syntax: (“Public Security” or “Public Safety”) and Innovation. The results show that there are two strong, non-dichotomous movements being developed, concurrently, in the area of ​​public security: the first, more disciplinary, focuses on the development of technologies and information management; the second, with a more transdisciplinary focus, deals, above all, with intelligent territorial occupation. More specifically, five thematic axes were identified in the articles: technologies, territorial occupation, law enforcement, administration and health. Another point, noticed when measuring communication flows, was the finding that international collaboration networks between researchers are still ephemeral, which may suggest a lack of maturation of learning networks.

Keywords:
public security; innovation; bibliometrics; smart city; territorial occupation