Framing virtual interactivity between government and citizens: a study of feedback systems in the Chicago Police Department

Considers the current efforts to describe the effect of Internet-based technology on interactivity between citizens and public organizations to be incomplete and poorly linked. This paper develops a model of interactivity that reflects the self-organization potential of virtual communication and the social context within which citizens and bureaucrats operate. The model helps us to identify ways in which different levels of feedback communication, e.g. e-mail, may affect both changes in organizations and communities, and the relationship between organizations and communities. A case analysis of the Chicago Police Department´s (CPD) Citizen ICAM (Information Collection for Automated Mapping) is reviewed to determine the effects of feedback and the technology on the organization. We found that virtual interactivity is a complex process - more complex than typically described - that has significant effects on the structure and work processes of the CPD. We conclude by proposing a staged model of citizen-government interactivity and by identifying future research topics.