Behind the Screens: How Information Specialists Define and Expand their Roles and Boundaries in Policing

• In Event: POLWG Panel 9. Civilian Staff in policing: Experiences and evolving opportunities

Abstract

Policing is changing, and at the heart of this transformation are new technologies, the growing importance of data, and expanding practices in digital environments. In this shift, information specialists emerge. These professionals develop, manage, and utilize the systems that shape modern police work. This study, part of a broader PhD dissertation on modernization in the Dutch police organization, explores how information specialists establish themselves as a new professional group. It analyzes their internal structures, roles, and tasks, as well as how they navigate and redefine existing boundaries within the police domain.

While academic attention to information specialists in policing has increased, research has primarily focused on specific subsets – such as data scientists and algorithm builders – rather than studying them as a collective group. However, these professionals share a common function: infusing traditional policing with modern tools. They are responsible for managing, creating, and interpreting complex technologies, systems, and datasets that influence decision-making. Studying them as a unified group provides insight into their collective impact on police organizations and police work. This study addresses this gap by applying Andrew Abbott’s System of Professions (1988) theory to analyze how these specialists establish and negotiate their expertise and role within the police. Who are they? What roles and tasks define their work? How do they gain recognition and prove their value? Do they compete with traditional police roles or face resistance? And how do they reshape policing?

By examining different subgroups across various operational levels, each working with distinct technologies, datasets, or systems, this study analyzes their composition, internal divisions, and fault lines, as well as the coherence between subgroups, their roles and tasks, and how they strategically position themselves within the police organization. Thereby, this study sheds light on the broader transformation of the police organization and police work in modern times.

Author

• Michelle Breurman, Radboud University