Plural policing as professional strife. Municipal officers and police officers in the Netherlands

In the past 30 years, the introduction of new providers of policing services has meant that the policing landscape in many countries has changed considerably. In the Netherlands, an important aspect of this ‘pluralization of policing’ is the introduction of municipal officers: new, public officials who are employed by Dutch municipalities. This article discusses how front-line professionals themselves view these changes and the division of labour between the regular police and municipal officers. By interpreting their views as strife and contestation over professional domains and by borrowing... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Eikenaar, Teun
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2019
Reihe/Periodikum: International Journal of Police Science & Management ; volume 21, issue 3, page 146-155 ; ISSN 1461-3557 1478-1603
Verlag/Hrsg.: SAGE Publications
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27626514
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461355719854107

In the past 30 years, the introduction of new providers of policing services has meant that the policing landscape in many countries has changed considerably. In the Netherlands, an important aspect of this ‘pluralization of policing’ is the introduction of municipal officers: new, public officials who are employed by Dutch municipalities. This article discusses how front-line professionals themselves view these changes and the division of labour between the regular police and municipal officers. By interpreting their views as strife and contestation over professional domains and by borrowing concepts from the sociology of professions, it adds a novel perspective to the current debate on plural policing. The article discerns four views, two of which highlight differences and two of which highlight similarities between these professions. In interpreting these views, the article states that officers define their professions mostly by referring to fundamental argumentations about professional core aspects and higher values. This implies the ‘professional projects’ of front-line workers might be as important as their orientation on outside (societal) needs and desires.