J.B. Terpstra

Police, local government, and citizens as participants in local security networks

In the Netherlands, just as in many other Western European countries, there has recently been a growth in the number of local security networks. The police, local governments, and citizens are the main participants of these networks. This study shows that the intended participation of the police, local government, and citizens in the security networks is realised only to a limited extent. The main problems faced by these networks have to do with the emphasis on the ‘core business’ of the police, the coordination by local governments, and the high and complex expectations about citizen participation.

Mind the implementation gap? Police reform and local policing in the Netherlands and Scotland

In 2013 the governments of the Netherlands and Scotland established national police forces, replacing a tradition of largely autonomous regional police organizations. In both jurisdictions, these radical reforms have raised concerns about the consequences of these national police structures for local policing and for relationships with local communities and local government. Drawing on documentary sources and interview material from each jurisdiction and informed by insights from the policy implementation literature, the key question addressed in this article is how has the legislation that created the new national police forces been put into effect at a local level? Focusing on the impact on the governance, organization and delivery of local policing, the article reveals how the implementation in both jurisdictions involves interpretation and discretion by multiple actors so that gaps are emerging between the national ‘policy promises’ set out in the legislation and the ‘policy products’ experienced in local contexts.

‘Not just one node among many’ – plural policing in a state-dominated context: the case of Austria

One of the most influential approaches in the study of plural policing is the concept of nodal governance of security. This approach is presented as an alternative to the dominant, state-centred model of policing. This paper tries to understand the pluralisation of policing in a continental European context that focuses strongly on the state as the central actor in policing. It deals with one such country, Austria. After a description of the history, constitutional system and culture of Austria, this paper deals with the several public and private aspects of policing in this country. Two elements are quite characteristic of the general attitude concerning plural policing in Austria. There is a widespread reluctance to accept the pluralisation and privatisation of policing. In Austria, plural policing is often a highly politicised issue. Both elements may be understood as resulting from the fact that plural policing is often perceived as a highly sensitive public issue. Seen from the perspective of the continental European countries, there are important reasons for not too readily accepting nodal strategies. In the continental European context, the state is not only more than just ‘one node among many’. The theoretical problem is that the nodal perspective does not provide the tools to understand why these countries hold to their stronger orientation towards the state in the matter of policing.

Plural policing, the public good, and the constitutional state: an international comparison of Austria and Canada – Ontario

ABSTRACT For the past two or three decades many jurisdictions have experienced a pluralisation of policing. In addition to the regular public police, in most countries new providers have become involved in policing public and semi-public places. This paper deals with the differences in the ways that plural policing and its consequences are defined and assessed in different countries. The paper focuses on two countries that differ considerably in the impact of neoliberalism, Austria and Canada – Ontario. In these countries different discourses are used to assess plural policing and its potential negative impact. In Canada the public good is the central concept in discussions of plural policing. This often refers to instrumental goals such as value for money and service delivery to consumers. In Austria plural policing is generally discussed in terms of the tasks and position of the state, the monopoly of violence, and by referring to constitutional and fundamental legal perspectives. This study shows that international comparative research on (plural) policing cannot be based on the tacit assumption that central concepts such as public good have universal relevance. On the contrary, these normative concepts are highly context dependent, an important conclusion for future international comparative research on policing and security.