Climate change, policing and community resilience in the UK: emotion and experience in local emergency planning and response. 

• In Event: Policing in a Climate Crisis: Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

In the UK, many regions are now regularly experiencing persistent heavy storms, strong winds, torrential rainfall, and flooding. Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, the statutory responsibility to prepare for such emergencies rests with the Local Resilience Forums (LRFs), multiagency partnership that are coterminous with regional police forces in England and Wales. Drawing on research funded by the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre, this paper reflects on the role of the police and LRF partner agencies in preparing for and responding to the pervasive effects of climate change in one UK region. Drawing on interviews with police and key LRF partners, the paper reflects on the opportunities and challenges for LRFs in preparing for and responding to climate emergencies and acknowledges the key role of the police in coordinating emergency response activity. The findings highlight the role ‘emotion’ plays in local sense-making when faced with the question of the climate crisis. I argue that despite the conceptual and practical difficulties with terms such as ‘community resilience’ and ‘climate change’, a strong sense of localism, compassion, and duty prevails in disaster management situations. This sense of local solidarity has led to innovative community-based local emergency preparedness and response strategies. Secondly, I argue that while LRFs are not immune to the challenges associated with a loss of institutional memory and barriers to partnership work due to resource constraints, experience of multiple disasters, local professional relationships, good leadership, and situational awareness are crucial to effective and timely emergency response strategies. Based on the findings, I propose that emergency planning and response assemblages (such as the LRFs) need to integrate, harness, and leverage diverse forms of knowledge, experience, emotional intelligence, and expertise.

Author

• Ali Malik, University of Leeds