In the past years important changes have occurred in police work in the Netherlands and Belgium. These developments, and new questions that arose because of these developments, are the reason we dedicate a special issue to ‘the police and citizen in a changing context’. In this introduction of this issue, we describe a number of developments and new questions. We address the changing distance between police officers and citizens, authority and trust, the role of citizens, technology and digitization and growing complexity and diversity. In addition, the articles in this special issue are introduced. |
Tijdschrift voor Criminologie
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Redactioneel |
Relaties tussen politie en burgers in een veranderende context |
Trefwoorden | Interaction, Police-citizen, Police organization, Societal developments, Organizational developments |
Auteurs | Jan Terpstra, Antoinette Verhage en Lisa van Reemst |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Artikel |
Oude wijn in nieuwe zakken?Een studie naar de gepercipieerde effectiviteit van buurtinformatienetwerken in een veranderende context |
Trefwoorden | community safety, crime prevention, neighborhood inhabitants, Neighborhood Watch, police |
Auteurs | Thom Snaphaan, Lieven Pauwels en Wim Hardyns |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The rise of the internet and social media has important consequences for the way we interact, communicate and access information. This has repercussions for the police organization and also for the cooperation between police and citizens. One of these forms of cooperation between police and citizens are neighborhood watch (NW) projects (also known as ‘BINs’ in Belgium and ‘burgerwachten’ in the Netherlands). This study uses semi-structured interviews (n=380) in Belgium to examine how NW members and non-NW members perceive the effectiveness of both formal and informal NW projects and how the two relate to each other. The perceived effectiveness is assessed based on several criteria, including impact on crime, fear of crime, policing, and the relationship between police and citizens. |
Artikel |
Burgerparticipatie bij vermissingen: een toepassing van de Theory of Planned Behavior binnen de districtsrecherche |
Trefwoorden | citizen participation, decision making, Policing, criminal investigation, police discretion |
Auteurs | Jerôme Lam, Eline Schoonderwoerd en Nicolien Kop |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
This article examines the use of citizen participation in urgent missing person cases. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used to examine which specific considerations investigators have in this regard and which have the greatest influence on the choice of whether or not to involve citizens. The findings suggest that this choice is primarily attitude-driven. Detectives are predominantly positive about participation, but see harm to the investigation as the main risk. A practical implication is to focus collaboration primarily on professionally organized groups of citizens to reduce (perceived) risks. |
Artikel |
Agressie tegen politiemedewerkers en omgang met burgers: wederkerige beïnvloeding of gemeenschappelijke oorzaken? |
Trefwoorden | police-citizen, victimization, violence, use of force, patience |
Auteurs | Lisa van Reemst, Tamar Fischer en Frank Weerman |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Police officers are often the victim of aggression by citizens, which has negative consequences for them and society in general. Therefore, it is important to gain knowledge about related factors. This study examines to what extent experiencing aggression as a police officer is related to their patience with citizens and use of force. Two explanations based on the victim-offender overlap are examined: that aggression experiences and dealing with citizens influence each other and that they have common causes. This study was conducted on the basis of a longitudinal questionnaire survey among police officers (N=693). The results show that interaction with citizens, including patience with citizens and the use of force, is related to the aggression police officers experience. The association diminishes when common causes, in this case socio-demographic and work-related characteristics, are taken into account, but does not disappear. No direct support is found for reciprocal influence. Implications and suggestions for further research are described. |
Artikel |
De politie en burger in beeld? Een internationale scoping review naar het beleid inzake bodycamgebruik met aanbevelingen voor politiediensten in België |
Trefwoorden | bodycam regulations, police discretion, procedural justice, trust in the police, activation policy |
Auteurs | Thibaut Decombel, Yinthe Feys, Anse Stevens e.a. |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Based on a scoping review regarding international policy recommendations, the authors of this article explore the most important aspects concerning bodycam policies for police services. Even though most literature on the shortlist is situated in the United States, important issues are discussed for a Belgian bodycam policy. Examples are a clear activation policy and regulations regarding warnings. These recommendations are compared to the legal regulations on bodycams in Belgium, such as the individual discretion Belgian police officers have when activating the camera. Throughout the article, the use of bodycams is linked to procedural justice. Because of the scarcity of Belgian bodycam research, we also give some recommendations for further research on this topic. |
Artikel |
Politie en de COVID-19-pandemie in België: impact op het politiewerk, de interne relaties en politie-burgerinteracties |
Trefwoorden | COVID-19 regulations, crisis, procedural justice, police legitimacy, self-legitimacy |
Auteurs | Yinthe Feys |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In this article, the author reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on policing, the relations among police officers and the interactions between police and citizens based on systematic social observations in small to semi-sized local police forces during the pandemic. The article discusses the nature of police work during the crisis and new types of interventions that police officers are confronted with (e.g. curfew controls). Additionally, the impact of the pandemic on the internal and external relations is discussed. Internally, the COVID-19 measures may have an impact on police officers’ possibilities for personal, social interactions among colleagues, which may potentially challenge the solidarity within the police force. Externally, tensions may arise in relations with citizens, partly because of unclear regulations or variable interpretations of those regulations. Those unclear regulations, but also uncertainties concerning one’s own competences and questions regarding the police’s role in enforcing the pandemic regulations, put pressure on the police’s (self-)legitimacy. |
Kroniek |
De rol van de politie en hun partners in de aanpak van huiselijk geweld |
Trefwoorden | Partnergeweld, Kindermishandeling, Geweld in afhankelijkheidsrelaties, Veiligheid, Samenwerkingsverbanden |
Auteurs | Janine Janssen en Janna Verbruggen |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Domestic violence is a prevalent and persistent problem in society. To be able to effectively intervene in cases of domestic violence, protect victims, and reduce the costs of domestic violence, several initiatives have been implemented in recent years with the aim of improving the response to domestic violence. A multidisciplinary and systemic approach to tackling domestic violence has been introduced, which is especially important in complex cases. Police work together with different partners, among others, the organisation ‘Safe at Home’ (Veilig Thuis) and the public prosecutor. Police play a particularly important role in achieving immediate safety in cases of domestic violence, and work together with partners to accomplish more structural safety for all family members. The development towards a more holistic response to domestic violence in which the police work together with other organisations is important to be able to tackle domestic violence more effectively. Although the importance of collaboration between different organisations has been recognised, the multidisciplinary response is still in development, resulting in some problems in practice. |