Are today’s police services ready for tomorrow’s climate-driven challenges and why do we need eco-cops more than ever?

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

Abstract

This presentation introduces the climatisation framework to analyse two key questions: how climate change impacts police work and how it reshapes police organisations and their responses to the evolving landscape of crimes and harms. These two questions are interconnected; their trajectories influence each other in meaningful ways. This interconnectedness underscores the necessity of addressing both aspects in tandem for a comprehensive understanding of climate change's implications for police work, which are largely about trade-offs. This approach views the police from a criminological perspective, recognising them as both security actors and as integral components of the criminal justice chain. The selected framework offers a more neutral alternative to securitisation or riskification narratives. It seeks to bridge various strands of knowledge, providing a roadmap for police scholars and practitioners. The climatisation framework, understood through the interaction between shocks and stressors, elucidates how existing police practices are not only being adapted to address climate change but also how new practices emerging from climate policy are being integrated into the field of policing. Drawing on 23 expert interviews, this book bridges academic theory with frontline practice and discusses numerous practical examples. By providing a practical roadmap, it serves as a prognosis for police forces and policymakers on what to anticipate, including the emergence of climate crimes, the problematic heat-crime nexus, the challenges of policing climate and “greenlash” demonstrations, the humanitarian demands of policing disasters, the efficiency of sustainable police operations, the development of “green” chains of collaboration, the creation of climate-adjusted police work environments, the necessity for green education and skillsets for eco-cops, and the risk of leaving police behind in the transition to climate-responsive and adaptive practices.

Author

• Anna Matczak, The Hague University of Applied Science