2034760x
Rss

European Journal of Policing Studies

About this journal  

Subscribe to the email alerts for this journal here to receive notifications when a new issue is at your disposal.

Issue 4, 2023 Expand all abstracts
Article

Access_open The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

Organizational Legitimacy and Conditionality

Keywords police, oversight, legitimacy, Northern Ireland
Authors Gavin Boyd and Gordon Marnoch
AbstractAuthor's information

    The article addresses organizational legitimacy in the public services, conducting an analysis of the records of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) 2000-2018. A framework of organizational legitimacy provides a basis for examining OPONI’s record with respect to fulfilment of purpose, administrative efficiency and outcomes. Results suggest that OPONI needs to adjust to changing societal circumstances in Northern Ireland to sustain its role in persuading the people that policing is both fair and appropriate. A strategic reset is required given the diminished number of complaints cases linked to political conflict in order to avoid inadvertently destabilizing the post-conflict governance of policing.


Gavin Boyd
Gavin Boyd served 30 years in the RUC GC/PSNI before working as Policing Consultant in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is currently an Associate at Liverpool Centre for Advance Policing at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, and the UK College of Policing. His research focuses on policing intelligence and terrorism, police accountability and criminal justice.

Gordon Marnoch
Gordon Marnoch’s research examines issues in public services, particularly policing and health care. He has written two books and published in numerous journals, including Public Administration, Public Performance Management Review, Policing, Policing & Society and the European Journal of Policing Studies. He has advised several public organizations and a parliamentary committee inquiry. Corresponding author: Gordon Marnoch, gj.marnoch@ulster.ac.uk.
Article

What Are They Doing in the Dark?

Police Strategies and Working Methods in Fighting Crime on the Tor Network

Keywords dark web, tor, ACN, criminal investigation, law enforcement
Authors Bram Emmen, Christianne de Poot and Wouter Stol
AbstractAuthor's information

    The dark web is creating difficulties for traditional policing. Previous studies have focused on users, but very little is known about law enforcement dealing with the core challenge of Anonymity Communication Networks: absent and anonymous suspects whose locations and identities are effectively hidden behind encryption. Based on 14 interviews with Dutch police officers and public prosecutors, enriched with a media analysis of 45 Dutch newspaper articles, we come to a model of Dutch law enforcement dealing with Tor cases. We observe that the police are adapting to the new reality of Tor use. However, they still work within their set framework which does not always match the needs for policing Tor cases. We additionally note a more prominent place for the strategy of disruption which may create the need for additional legal grounds.


Bram Emmen
Bram Emmen is PhD candidate at the Open University of the Netherlands.

Christianne de Poot
Christianne de Poot is Endowed Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Wouter Stol
Wouter Stol is Endowed Professor at the Open University of the Netherlands. Funding: This work was supported by NordForsk [ grant 80512] within the call for collaborative research projects on Society, Integrity and Cyber-security and is part of the “Police detectives on the Tor network” project.
Article

The Qualitative Analysis of the Perceived Abilities, Skills and Characteristics of Turkish Crime Investigators

Keywords police, criminal investigation, investigator, professionalism, strategic management
Authors Burak M. Gönültaş, Ivar Fahsing, Emek Yuce Zeyrek Rios e.a.
AbstractAuthor's information

    A study combining interviews and the repertory grid analyses explored Turkish investigators’ views on what it takes to be an effective investigator. Experienced Turkish police officers (n = 286) from seven different cities dealing with high-harm, low-volume crime investigations were asked to describe what differentiates the effective investigator from the less effective one. A total of 1,819 skills, abilities and personal characteristics (SACs) described could be clustered under three main categories, namely “personality and general knowledge”, “investigative and analytical abilities” and “management and cooperation skills”. A vast majority of SACs identified were quite unspecific and provided only a general indication of a relatively low ability to describe the deeper and underlying functions involved in the job. They view their job mostly as a form of art which can only be mastered through mentorship and job experience. In this study, the variety and vastness of skills, abilities and characteristic in the data indicate that the investigators seem to acknowledge the complexity and the difficulty of modern-day criminal investigations. Thus, we reached inferences from the findings, and they are discussed in relation to levels of professionalism, strategic staff management and previous research from other cultures and jurisdictions. The findings of this research can assist with the development of a cross-cultural and cross-jurisdictional and evidence-based policy for the selection and development of investigators.


Burak M. Gönültaş
Burak M. Gönültaş is Professor at the department of Social Work, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.

Ivar Fahsing
Ivar A. Fahsing is Professor at the department of Criminal Investigation, Norwegian Police College University, Oslo, Norway.

Emek Yuce Zeyrek Rios
Emek Yüce Zeyrek-Rios is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Letters, Psychology Department, Mardin Artuklu University, Middle East Techical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Esra Çetinöz
Esra Çetinöz is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security Sciences, Department of Crime Studies of the Turkish National Police Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
Article

Police Stop and Search Practices in Belgium: Amplifying Voices of Urban Youth Experiencing Stop and Search in Belgium and Exploring the Dynamics of Learned Submissiveness

Keywords Belgium, identity checks, ethnic profiling, discriminatory policing, stop and search, learned submissiveness
Authors Yana Jaspers, Jenneke Christiaens, Jasmien Bougrine e.a.
AbstractAuthor's information

    Identity checks are controversial in Belgium. Allegations that police have engaged in racial profiling practices have led to protests in some major cities and conflict between the police and young people with minority backgrounds. Academic research into citizens’ experiences with ID checks by the police is both dated and scarce in Belgium. Existing studies show that citizens, especially those of North African origin and Roma heritage, report being both over-policed and treated disrespectfully by the police. This article presents a state of the art about citizens’ experiences with identity checks in Belgium, presents findings of two studies on youngsters’ experiences with stop and search, and casts an analytical eye over the strengths and weaknesses of the extant scholarship. We theorize that repeated exposure to police encounters, where youngsters feel compelled to submit to police authority to expedite the process, results in a state of learned submissiveness (following Seligman’s concept of learned helplessness). This state is characterized by a sense of powerlessness, coerced compliance, and a diminished willingness to challenge police actions. We call for more research into how urban youth perceive the strained relationship with police and its impact on their self-constructed identities.


Yana Jaspers
Yana Jaspers, Visiting professor, Criminology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Campus Etterbeek.

Jenneke Christiaens
Jenneke Christiaens, Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Campus Etterbeek.

Jasmien Bougrine
Jasmien Bougrine, PhD Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Campus Etterbeek.

Sofie De Kimpe
Sofie De Kimpe, Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Campus Etterbeek.

Ines Saudelli
Ines Saudelli, Phd researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Campus Etterbeek.

Lotte De Vos
lotte De Vos, Criminologist, Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Campus Etterbeek.
Book Review

Comparative Policing: An Honest Attempt

Authors Paul F.M. Ponsaers
Author's information

Paul F.M. Ponsaers
Dr. Paul F.M. Ponsears is Professor emeritus of Criminology, at Ghent University, Belgium.

Subscribing to EJPS

If you're interested in a subscription, please follow this link.

More information

General Open Call

More information

Open Call
European Journal of Policing Studies Special Issue on Plural Policing in Cyberspace: Entering the Grey Zone

More information

Button_em_en