An Assessment of User Satisfaction with E-Police in Nigeria

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Introduction E-government is a concept that has been embraced by numerous governments across the globe over the course of the past several decades. The primary objective of e-government is to increase the effectiveness of government operations on the internal level, as well as to improve communication with the general public, increase transparency, and build trust among citizens. Along the same lines as this e-government project is the requirement to enhance public safety via the use of technology, which is also referred to as e-police. According to Matlala [1], e-police is the process through which the police and the general public communicate and share information and services via the internet. The provision of police services through the use of the internet, which may include websites, electronic mail, fax machines, and other services. E-policing is a concept that was established with the objective of boosting openness, efficiency, and effectiveness improving overall public safety in the provision of policing services which can be accomplished by establishing an online presence for the police department. Policing is one of the most significant areas in which digital technology may be of tremendous use to state-society interactions on a global scale. Most governments in the world have achieved this by providing a variety of online police services, such as those found on social media platforms like Facebook[16], Twitter[17], and YouTube, as well as on the web. Smartphones and social media provide up new opportunities for citizen empowerment, permit improved openness for law enforcement agencies and the services they provide, and facilitate better interaction between the public and the police. As public safety organizations and the police force continue to deal with new circumstances, each of which presents a unique set of opportunities to implement significant reforms, the current situation globally, suggests there is a possibility that digital technology would make it easier for community organizations and NGOs to coordinate responses to crime, moderate instances of police ineptitude and corruption. However, one of the primary impediments to the installation and exploitation of technology is the lack of an interoperable communication channel that facilitates information sharing between law enforcement and individuals. Developing an information society with a culture that readily absorbs information technology depends on citizens’ mindsets or degrees of perception. E-policing is considered as incorporating both the police and the public in cooperative problemsolving, in addition to harnessing the internet to deliver services more efficiently and inexpensively. It is possible that the effect of e-policing systems on policecommunity relations might be limited by a number of different elements, such as the type of technology, the level of adoption, and the utilization of such data. According to, most law enforcement organizations have enthusiastically embraced information technology and invested a significant amount of capital in the establishment of appropriate systems [2]. This study tries to bridge the gap between the evidence that is currently available from the literature that reveals an unconfirmed relationship between the usage and satisfaction with ICT adoption in the security system and the functioning of police, in particular [3]. The Nigerian government is working to improve public sector transparency, accountability, and people’s trust in the public sector by increasing its social and technical competence in the public service sector [4]. Similar to this is the newly unveiled e-government master plan, which is facilitating the continuous operation of an effective e-government system across the country. E-government has already been adopted in many federal system activities, such as the customs services, immigration services, financial payroll system for the federal civil service, e-procurement, education system, telehealth reforms and electronic financial reporting system, all of which are aimed at positively influencing transparency and accountability in the public financial management [5]. Over the course of the last decade, the Nigerian Police Force has made investments in the dissemination of information and provision of additional law enforcement services over the internet [6]. Previously, the state of affairs in the police force is a manual desk approach to crime reporting and bureaucratic characteristics of leadership within the force. These approaches have been criticized over the years as largely ineffective and wasteful. Therefore, solving this problem requires the use of ICT in the police force for crime reporting, monitoring and action. Some such improvement is the establishment of the Public Complained Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) which is technologically driven using social media platforms, real-time calls and short messaging services. This service does not only aim at connecting citizens with the police force but also to correct the internal bureaucratic corruption in the police force. Although these efforts have been made to increase police capacity through the implementation of technology-based initiatives, the rate of crime appears to be rising as a result of the failure to stop crimes, corruption, and human rights violations, therefore the force has been criticized for poor performance and dissatisfaction from the public. This indicates that there is a need for an overall policy assessment concerning both the performance of technology and the general police force. As a result, it is essential to collect data and conduct an analysis of how the information systems gathered are utilized to achieve the desired results. On the one hand, more recent data suggests that very little study has been conducted on how the use of information technology in the security architecture of the country, except for a few such as Odeyemi and Obiyan [6], Ibikunle and Adefihan [7] which are qualitative researches. More so, it is important to establish how the deployment of ICT has influenced the efficiency of police work and the level of satisfaction felt by the citizens in the context of the existing style of operations. Theoretical background The combination of the information system success model and the technology acceptance model serves as the theoretical basis for this investigation [8, 9]. Wixon and Todd developed an integrated model that distinguishes between beliefs and attitudes regarding the system itself and beliefs and attitudes regarding one’s use of the system. They developed a theoretical logic that establishes a relationship between user satisfaction and acceptance of technology. This model closes the gap between the properties of the system and the ways in which it is used. Within the framework of the paradigm, user satisfaction is composed of object-based beliefs (relating to the quality of the information and the system) and object-based attitudes (information satisfaction and system satisfaction). According to the model developed by Wixon and Todd, there are three components that make up the adoption of technology: behavioural beliefs (including perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use), behavioural attitude and intention. Through their approach, the Technology Acceptance Model recognized satisfaction, and they stated that the quality of the system and information leads to satisfaction, which then results in perceived usefulness and ease of use. Their model identified satisfaction with the Technology Acceptance Model [8]. In a similar vein, DeLone and McLean [10] IS Success Model provides a helpful and all-encompassing framework for understanding IS success’ multidimensionality [11]. Due to the fact that DeLone and McLean’s information systems success model places a strong emphasis on being all-encompassing, it has been extensively used and cited by a large number of studies [12]. The model provides the service features of an information system to the degree that it can predict the user satisfaction, intention to use, or actual usage of such a system, as well as the net benefit of such a system. System quality may be defined as the degree to which an information system is able to fulfil a user’s information needs by producing the requested data. Usability, utility, dependability, flexibility, data processing quality, portability, and compliance are all important considerations for system quality [13]. The performance of the system is an indication of how well the hardware and software collaborate to produce the desired results. The information quality of the system is used as a yardstick to measure the information output quality. The characteristics of the information that is generated by the information system are as follows: comprehensiveness, accuracy, accessibility, timeliness, consistency, and understandability [14]. In addition, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed with the intention of providing an explanation of the determinants of information system acceptance that is broad, and capable of explaining user behaviour across a broad range of end-user computing technologies and user populations while simultaneously being parsimonious and theoretically justified [14]. The Technology Acceptance Model encompasses a wide variety of information technologies as well as user demographics, and it provides basic criteria that explain user behaviour [15]. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are the two particular beliefs that were put into the TAM’s basic model. When compared to perceived usefulness, which refers to the importance or benefits derived from utilizing the system, perceived ease of use shows the amount of work that is required to operate a certain technology. Hypothesis formation Quality dimensions and perceived usefulness The relevance of services is an essential component that influences users’ views of the quality of services that are delivered on online platforms [16]. For the purpose of this study, the primary determinants that shape users’ opinions regarding the usage or non-use of e-policing services are the perceived importance of the use of those services by citizens. Researchers working in the field of traditional information systems are of the opinion that the quality of the system, such as the e-police system, is the single most essential factor in determining the level of safety provided by any interactive information system [17; 18]. As the quality of the system continues to advance, it is predicted that both the level of user satisfaction and the degree to which they view the system as beneficial will rise [19; 20]. Previous research has demonstrated that users’ perception of the usefulness of information and communication technologies (ICT) is substantially influenced by the effectiveness of the devices deployed [17; 19]. Therefore, the success of the information quality dimension is a useful function that is associated with the performance of information systems. Previous studies have demonstrated that individuals’ perceptions of an information system’s usefulness are greatly impacted by its quality parameters [17; 21; 22]. Wang and Teo [23] discovered that there is a reasonable level relationship between the quality of the information system and how valuable it is regarded to be. As a result, the hypothesis of this study is that H1: Information quality will influence the perceived usefulness of e-police H2: System quality will influence the perceived usefulness of e-police H3: Service quality will influence the perceived usefulness of e-police Perceived usefulness and user satisfaction The perceived usefulness of an information system component is one of the fundamental concepts behind TAM. For this study, it is presumed that perceived usefulness refers to the perceived utility of e-police. Perceived usefulness can be understood from different perspectives such as Davis [15] defines perceived usefulness as the degree to which a person feels that the usage of specific information systems might boost efficiency. Similarly, it can be assumed to be a belief in the process of decision-making based on the utility of an object. The perceived usefulness of a product or service is one of the most important variables in determining whether or not a user will continue to make use of it, as well as how satisfied [24; 25]. According to the argument that was presented by Shiau and Luo [26], the inclusion of the factor of user satisfaction in the study offers a considerable contribution to the degree of explanation of the perceived usefulness. According to Sun, Fang [27], user satisfaction is a crucial component in the desire to use modern technology and is effective in analyzing the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) and internet and webbased systems. As a result, the following hypotheses are drawn: H4: Perceived usefulness of e-police will influence User Satisfaction with e-police H5: Perceived usefulness will mediate the relationship between information quality and user satisfaction with e-police H6: Perceived usefulness will mediate the relationship between system quality and user satisfaction with e-police H7: The perceived usefulness mediates the relationship between service quality and user satisfaction with e-police Methodology An online survey was conducted in Nigeria using a pre-designed questionnaire to collect the necessary information for this study. A significant amount of consideration was given to respondents’ levels of user experience and history of engagement with the government via electronic portals. The survey gathered data on the conceptual measurements of the constructs as well as the demographic information of the respondents. For the purpose of the study, a seven-point agreement measure based on the Likert scale was developed. The respondent’s confidentiality was ensured at all times. Ethical issues were taken into account, as evidenced by the fact that the questionnaire does not contain any questions that may be used to identify the individuals who filled it out. Additionally, the participants had the option to end their involvement at any moment without coercion. The survey had items that were utilized for the measurement of a variety of constructs that were utilized for the study. Five items derived from Davis [15] were used to conduct the study’s assessment of perceived usefulness. The sample of the items used includes “e-police platforms improve crime reporting to the police” ”e-police platforms enhance public safety watch” “e-police makes the processing of case files effective” “e-police makes complain tracking easy” and “e-police enables quick intervention of the police at crime scenes”. The level of satisfaction with the services provided by the electronic government was evaluated using four questions adapted from Spreng, MacKenzie [28] such as “I am fulfilled with the level of e-police” “I am satisfied with the quality of the information provided on the e-police platform” “I am happy with the system quality of the e-police” and “I am satisfied with the case tracking system of the e-police”. The quality dimensions of the e-police services were measured using items adapted from Urbach and Müller [29] such as “the information provided on the e-police platforms is accurate” “the information provided on the police website is complete” “the social media platform of the police provide up to date information” “the social media platform of the police is responsive” “the police gives quick response to complaints” “the police website is easy to navigate”. In this study partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was utilized with the help of SmartPLS 4. A total of 567 respondents responded to the online questionnaire. 497 had previously interacted with the police online through Facebook (37 %), Twitter (23 %), e-mail: (14 %), SMS (19 %) and other online platforms (7 %). On the basis of the demographic features of the respondents, there is a greater number of male (62 %) respondents than there are female respondents (38 %). In addition to holding a bachelor’s degree (64 %), a sizeable percentage of respondents also have post-graduate qualifications in their fields of study (23 %). The majority of the respondents are those between the age of 25 and 35 years (47 %), followed by the category between 36 to 45 years (28 %). The least age group are those below 25 years (10 %). The rest had secondary and post-primary education (13 %). More than half of those who participated in the survey have communicated with the police through the internet in the last half year (74 %). In addition, we examined for common method bias, and as can be shown in Table 1, all of the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) values are less than 3.3, which shows that our instrument is not affected by common method bias [30]. Analysis Measurement model A review and analysis of the measuring model was the first step in this process. In the course of this evaluation, the measures that were used to characterize the separate components were subjected to checks for both their reliabilities and their validities. It was determined to analyze the convergent validity, discriminant validity, internal consistency reliability, and indicator reliability tests. The results of evaluating the measurement model are presented in Table 1, which summarizes the data. The result of the Internal Consistency Reliability and construct reliability tests met the required minimum level of 0.709 and 0.700, respectively. In addition, the construct validity was investigated using Average Variance Extracted, and the findings revealed that every construct was valid up to the threshold of 0.500. This was determined by the fact that the results of the investigation showed that the average variance extracted was acceptable. Furthermore, the discriminant validity was examined as well. Because of this, as can be seen in Table 2, none of the values was higher than the 0.8 thresholds [31]; hence, this proves that every construct in the model is different from each other. Table 1 Factor loadings, reliability and convergent validity Constructs Items Loadings CR AVE VIF Information Quality IQ1 0.752 0.814 0.641 2.210 IQ2 0.847 IQ3 0.859 IQ4 0.782 IQ5 0.790 IQ6 0.768 Perceived Usefulness PU1 0.813 0.807 0.661 1.892 PU2 0.871 PU3 0.759 PU4 0.791 PU5 0.827 Service Quality SQ1 0.670 0.841 0.515 1.903 SQ2 0.768 SQ3 0.718 SQ4 0.709 SQ5 0.721 User Satisfaction ST1 0.861 0.818 0.691 2.238 ST2 0.870 ST3 0.883 ST4 0.795 System Quality SY1 0.805 0.814 0.728 1.227 SY2 0.842 SY3 0.802 SY4 0.832 SY5 0.873 Discriminant validity (HTMT) Table 2 IQ PU SQ SY US IQ PU 0.566 SQ 0.393 0.433 SY 0.453 0.618 0.255 US 0.595 0.731 0.305 0.712 Structural model The structural model was examined by assessing the interrelationship between the quality dimensions, perceived usefulness and user satisfaction. First, the predictive accuracy of the structural model shows a medium explanatory power for both perceived usefulness (44 %) and user satisfaction (42 %). More so, the effect sizes of the hypothesized paths showed that IQ and SY have medium effect sizes on PU, while SQ has a low effect size. More so PU has a large effect on user satisfaction. The predictive relevance of the model showed that Q2 value of PU is 0.346 while, US has a Q2 value of 0.267 which is greater than zero. The result of the hypothesized paths as shown in Table 3 and Figure 1 further showed that information quality has a significant relationship with perceived usefulness and user satisfaction positively. Also, service quality influences both user satisfaction and perceived usefulness positively and significantly. System quality also influences user satisfaction and perceived usefulness positively and significantly. The result also showed that perceived usefulness also partially mediates the relationships between the quality dimensions and user satisfaction with e-police. Table 3 Hypotheses result β St dev T value P values 5.00 % 95.00 % INF QUA -> PER USE 0.371 0.039 9.496 0.000 0.315 0.441 PER USE -> USER SAT 0.626 0.029 21.568 0.000 0.580 0.673 SER QUA -> PER USE 0.261 0.040 6.523 0.000 0.200 0.330 SYS QUA -> PER USE 0.228 0.043 5.269 0.000 0.149 0.298 Indirect Relationships SER QUA -> PER USE -> USER SAT 0.163 0.024 6.770 0.000 SYS QUA -> PER USE -> USER SAT 0.143 0.030 4.776 0.000 INF QUA -> PER USE -> USER SAT 0.232 0.027 8.596 0.000 Fig. 1. Structural model result This suggests that citizens will find the e-police platforms useful provided the appropriate information, services, and processes are put into place. As a consequence of this, the kind of information that is provided by the system will have a role in determining how the public views the e-police system. In addition, the quality, timeliness, and relevancy of the information will determine whether or not the general public has a positive or negative perception of the system. In a manner akin to this, the public’s impression of the e-police system is dependent on the usability of the user interface. This encompasses aspects such as navigation, accessibility, and instructional language. A dependable and comprehensive system to improve security services, including security reporting and case files, should be provided through a high-quality e-police system. This system should also be allencompassing. Because of this, the system needs to be capable of providing users with the most advantages that are feasible. Users expect that an electronic policing system that is trustworthy, up-to-date, and easy to use will improve the efficiency of the existing system and make their lives more secure. As a result, the capabilities of the e-policing platform, system, and service ought to be strengthened to serve the public’s best interests, and their level of performance ought to be enhanced. The degree of satisfaction that users have with e-government services is connected with the level of perceived usefulness of those services. Increasingly, citizens are becoming aware of the fact that perceived usefulness is one of the most significant factors in determining whether or not people will adopt e-policing, and it also plays a significant role in the degree to which they are satisfied with the system. This indicates that users will utilize the e-policing system based on how beneficial they perceive it to be and that they will likely assume that the platform will significantly increase their security and quality of life through intelligent case reporting and efficient monitoring. This is because of the fact that users will be able to access the system from their mobile devices. In addition, a user’s perception of how effective a system is, plays a large part in how satisfied they are with it; for this reason, the usability of the e-policing system will be a primary concern during the process of putting it into place. As a consequence of this, the e-police system has to have the appropriate updates and maintenance performed on it in order for the general public to accept it as an enhanced security system. Conclusion A quantitative method was taken in the course of this research project in order to investigate the level of user’s satisfaction of the citizens with the Nigerian e-police system. A conceptual model was developed on the basis that the quality dimensions of the information system (information, system, and service qualities) will impact the perceived usefulness of e-police, which will influence user satisfaction with e-police. All the hypotheses that were mentioned were put to the test and found supported. The findings of the study consequently point to the conclusion that there is a requirement to enhance the correctness, comprehensiveness, completeness, and updating of the information that is supplied by the police website to the citizens. In addition, the architecture of the system, including both the software and the hardware, have to be modernized in order to make the process of reporting crimes as simple as possible. When the services offered by the police online are timely and effective, users will have a greater chance of expressing satisfaction with the system. More so, when the citizens believe that the information, system, and services provided by the police department are efficient, they will continue to utilize the e-police system.

About the authors

Kazeem A. Oladimeji

Al-Hikmah University

Author for correspondence.
Email: Oladimeji.ka1@gmail.com
PhD Student of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abdulrazaq K. Abdulkareem

University of Ilorin

Email: abdulkareem.ka@unilorin.edu.ng
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0180-8709

PhD, Lecturer at the Department of Public Administration

Ilorin, Nigeria

References