The police role in a changing society

• In Event: Community policing a digitalized society

Abstract

What are the police for and what should they concern themselves with? Several attempts have been made to understand the police role in society (Bittner, 1980; Brodeur, 2010), yet most researchers are understandably hesitant to tackle this issue. However, intertwined developments like rapid societal change, the evolution of non-police policing actors, new dynamics in crime and safety issues, and technological innovation, once again beg the question what—if anything—lies at the core of the police role.

Based on an extensive analysis of literature, focus groups and interviews with participants from inside and outside the Dutch police, an attempt is made to build a new conceptual framework of the police role in society.

The broadly accepted central police tasks—dealing with crime, maintaining public order, and helping those in need—have in common that force may be required (often because situations that the police are asked to deal with are at least initially unclear). However, surprisingly, a second thread emerged that sheds a different light on the police role. Because of the wide scope of police activities and their central position in the public safety domain, the police have unique knowledge and insight into (societal) problems and challenges. They match technical know-how with knowledge of wider, interconnected social phenomena. This combination makes police knowledge and advice highly valued and sought after by partners and local governments, even when the police are legally subservient to those very same actors.

We conclude that the police, at least in the Dutch context, possess two core competences: the competence to use force and the competence to share knowledge and advice. This notion has wide-ranging implications, the most important of which are the need to protect police professional autonomy vis-à-vis politics and their obligation to constantly build on their knowledge base and skill set.

Author

• Dorian Schaap, Radboud University Nijmegen