The Policing Gap in NATO Operations - Defining the Internal Security Architecture

• In Event: Police Organization: Police Practice and Public Safety

Abstract

NATO Stability Policing doctrine enables the Alliance intervention in crisis and conflict zones to temporary replace or reinforce the indigenous police, as a factor of stabilization. Paramount is the analysis of the policing gap, defined as the lack of local police capability to provide a safe and secure environment, public security and the rule of law. Yet the experience on the field taught of more complex dynamics affecting internal security, involving formal and informal centres of power. The paper aims to understand, define and describe this complexity, proposing the notion of Internal Security Architecture as a whole system of social interactions with direct effects on security and policing. Through a robust literature review and the testimonies of selected experts, the research analyses the dynamics that regulate the internal security powers’ interactions, with the ultimate goal of extending the concept of policing gap and proposing a set of innovative analytical and planning tools.

Authors

• Maria (Maki) Haberfeld, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Luigi Bramati, NATO Stability Policing Centre of Excellence

• Monique van der Steen, Royal Netherlands Army, 1CMI command

• Gohar Petrossian, John Jay College of Criminal Justice