Co-operation in local police work: on the complexities of boundary spanning in local police units the Netherlands

• In Event: POL Panel 19. Opportunities and challenges for local and community policing models

Abstract

Co-operation between the local police and its partners is inevitable. Therefore, police units and their partner organisations work together in both their policy and operations to realize local security. But how do professionals of very different disciplines get to work together? In our research in two police units in the Netherlands we have followed four initiatives of local co-operation, by observations of meetings and interviews with participants of the local initiatives. From the theoretical perspective of boundary spanning (e.g. Williams, 2012) we have gained insights into the complexities of both participating and chairing local partnerships of the police and its partner organisations.

Authors

• Remco Spithoven, Saxion University of Applied Sciences

• annemarijn Walberg, Saxion University of Applied Sciences

• Nick van der Klok, Saxion University of Applied Sciences