Maklu

Subscription details

Contents:

Introduction
A. Verhage, L. Bisschop, W. Hardyns

Articles

‘Moral’ versus ‘Risk-based’ Policing of Cybercrime. Insights from Police Response to Internet Fraud in Saudi Arabia’s Capital City, Riyadh
A.F. Algarni (1)

Abstract
This paper contributes to current debates on the policing of Internet fraud by introducing the Saudi Arabian experience. Drawing on field research in the capital city, Riyadh, it explores how this new aspect of policing activity fits in with not only the existing organisational practices, but also the occupational and individual concerns of frontline officers. Moreover, the article considers the implications of the Saudi culture, social norms, and values for police responses to Internet fraud. It is argued that the policing of Internet fraud in Saudi Arabia, and the extent to which it fits with contemporary debates on risk-based policing of cybercrime, can only be understood by examining how new policing modes and cultural traditions merge and integrate to shape police response to this novel criminal phenomenon.

Keywords: fraud, internet, cybercrime, policing, risk, morality

(1) Assistant Professor of Criminology at King Fahad Security College’s Centre for Studies and Research.

Policing Online Child Sexual Abuse. The British Experience
E. Martelozzo (1)

Abstract
Incidents of child sexual abuse (CSA) are frequently documented and have recently attracted intense police, public scrutiny and efforts of social control across the Western world. This paper aims to explore the very concerning issue of online CSA and the way in which the police is responding to this growing problem. It will present some of the challenges the police in the United Kingdom face daily in dealing with the threats to children’s online safety. It argues that although proactive undercover policing has helped police forces to unmask sex offenders who predate innocent victims online, the advancement of technology is making the work of police officers more and more challenging. The findings presented have been collected over the last decade (2003-2013) during two exploratory, grounded theory studies, which involved the interviews with 21 police officers and forensic examiners and the observation and analysis of three police operations at the London Metropolitan Police Paedophile Unit in London.

Keywords: online child sexual abuse, online safety, technology, undercover policing, police challenges

(1) Criminologist at Middlesex University in London.

The Italian Police Forces into Neoliberal Frame. An Example of Perpetual Coexistence of Democratic and Authoritarian Practices and of Anamorphosis of Democratic Rules of Law
S. Palidda (1)

Abstract
This text proposes a description and analysis of the Italian police forces. The approach adopted specifically regards their social and political construction and therefore their practices within the political organization of society. In order to better analyse the social construction of the Italian police case, I propose regarding the police as one of the several social institutions involved in the continuous experimentation to find a political organization of society. Research into the Italian police forces has been, and is still, very rare. In this paper I refer to research that I have carried out on the Italian police forces since 1990, and also to other documents and knowledge gathered in judicial inquiries and from reliable special reports.

Keywords: Italian police forces, anamorphosis of the rules of law, tolerated and intolerable illegalities, discretion of police forces, ignored insecurities

(1) Professor a

Subscription details

Contents:

Introduction
Antoinette Verhage, Lieselot Bisschop & Wim Hardyns

Articles

Plural Policing in Western Europe. A Comparison
Elke Devroe (1) & Jan Terpstra (2)

Abstract
One of the almost undisputed findings of contemporary policing studies is that the past few decades have witnessed a far-reaching pluralization of policing. Many countries, in different regions of the world, were confronted with the rise of new non-police providers of policing services. Increasingly, the myth of one organization (the public police) with a monopoly on policing lost its power of persuasion as a valid description of reality. Generally, the new agencies of policing concentrate on the management of petty crime and social disorder in public places. With this new situation, multiple providers, both public and private, have become involved in the prevention and management of crime and social disorder. It is often assumed that this development of the past three decades created a more or less quiet revolution (or what Bayley and Shearing (1996) called a ‘watershed’) in the systems of crime control and law enforcement. Although this claim has been disputed, also in the Anglo-Saxon world (Jones & Newburn, 2002), the proposition of the pluralization of policing often seems to have reached the status of a universal, world-wide trend. Until recently, however, outside the Anglo-Saxon world there has been a lack of empirical studies on plural policing. With the exception of the collection edited by Jones and Newburn (2006), the recent study by Terpstra, Van Stokkom and Spreeuwers (2013), and the volume edited by Edwards et al. (2014), there were no other international comparative studies of this issue. As a result, until now the claim of a universally similar trend of plural policing has remained largely uncontested. In fact, the absence of international comparisons implied that theories and explanations of plural policing were based only on a limited (Anglo-Saxon) sample of countries. As a consequence, there was an unanswered question concerning the extent to which descriptions and explanations of plural policing were also relevant to understanding recent changes elsewhere. For example, one question that must be asked is if there is something like a Western-European style of plural policing? Or are the differences between these European countries so great that the developments in policing cannot be gathered under a single conceptual label?

Keywords: Criminal investigation teams, decision-making, tunnel vision, naturalistic decision making

The Policing of Public Space. Recent Developments in Plural Policing in England and Wales
Trevor Jones (1) & Stuart Lister (2)

Abstract
This p

Subscription details

Contents:

Introduction
A. Verhage, L. Bisschop, W. Hardyns

Articles

Investigating decision-making mechanisms and biases in Dutch criminal investigation teams by using a serious game
Jelle Groenendaal (1) en Ira Helsloot (2)

Abstract
In this article we examine by means of a serious game how ten teams of police leaders from major criminal investigation teams from five regional forces in the Netherlands, during criminal investiga-tion, deal with tunnel vision and other potential causes of flawed decision-making, described according to Naturalistic Decision-Making models. Findings show that in the serious game, the danger of tunnel vision was widely acknowledged and that a great deal of energy was wasted as a result. In addition, the teams proved susceptible to other types of decision-making pitfalls. For example, the teams searched predominantly for confirmatory evidence, unconsciously used ingrained process-related rules of thumb, and there was evidence of a form of ‘information impulsion fallacy’. The present research is an elaboration on existing literature in that it attempts to shed light on decision-making practices during criminal investigations. The study shows that a serious game can be a useful tool to uncover decision-making behaviour.

Keywords: Criminal investigation teams, decision-making, tunnel vision, naturalistic decision making

Women as Leaders in Policing: A Path Forward
Maria Koeppel (1)

Abstract
As a result of changing gender dynamics in leadership, a substantial body of literature has been dedicated to understanding differences between leadership styles and effectiveness for men and women, often finding differences between the two groups. Despite this growing body of research, there is still a substantial gap in the leadership and policing literature, specifically regarding women as leaders in policing. This paper provides an overview of the gender leadership literature both in and out of policing, as well as a succinct review of research pertaining to women as leaders in policing. Recommendations for future research are drawn from existing literature in a call for a greater understanding of the role of gender in leadership in policing.

Keywords: policing, leadership, gender

(1) Maria Koeppel received her Ph.D. in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University. Her research interests include victimology, gender, and sexual identity. Currently she is working as a research analyst for the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Guardian of Democracy?
Theoretical aspects of police roles and functions in democracy
Samuel Salzborn (1)

Abstract
In the research on democracy and democratization, there is a lack of systematic thought on the relationship between police and democracy. In this paper I argue that it is possible to go beyond empirical and historical research into police roles and functions in real-life political systems, in order to formulate a theoretical framework that outlines the specific relationships between police and democracy. Because the functions of police in democracies are clearly different from those existing under authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, it makes sense to examine these interrelationships more closely. Although the pol

Subscription details

Contents:

Introduction
A. Verhage, L. Bisschop, W. Hardyns

Articles

Professional disobedience. The impact of technology and multilevel dispatching on police practice
B. Böing (1)

Abstract
This article draws on a field experiment that took place in Amsterdam in 2012 to examine the impact of technology on police practice. The experiment consisted of four simulated robberies in which the use of the global positioning system (GPS) and short data service (SDS) were systematically varied (in a 2x2 between-subjects design) with different levels of operational command. The experiment resulted in faster coordination and less radio traffic. But this experiment also showed something else: almost all operational units displayed more or less disobedient behaviour. They deliberately deviated from orders to go to particular locations in the city to search for the suspects. In this article it is argued that this behaviour can be explained through officers’ situational awareness and the use of SDS. Additional interviews and group discussions further indicate that the lack of trust and hierarchical control may also have contributed to this behaviour. It is the question whether the findings of this study covers the current state of police practice in the Netherlands and perhaps beyond. This remains a subject for further study. The results from this experiment can be valuable for analysis in social behaviour studies among police units.

Keywords: Professional disobedience, police, GPS, SDS, situational awareness

(1) Researcher at the Amsterdam Police Department in the Netherlands.

Burnout as predictor of aggressivity among police officers
C. Queirós (1), M. Kaiseler (2) & A. Leitão da Silva (3)

Abstract
This paper aims to understand the relationship between aggressivity and burnout among police officers, more precisely, it investigates whether burnout is a predictor of aggressivity among police officers. The study focuses on the relationship between burnout and aggressivity, using regression analysis to identify aggressivity predictors. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to measure burnout, while the Aggression Questionnaire was used to measure aggressivity. A cross-sectional study collected data from 274 male police officers (from PSP – Portuguese Police of Public Security) exercising urban patrol tasks in Porto or Lisbon. Low burnout and moderate aggressivity levels were found, with positive significant correlations. Regression analysis reveals that burnout, more than socio-demographic characteristics, predicts 13% to 22% of aggressivity. In particular, feelings of high depersonalisation and low personal accomplishment are the burnout dimensions that most strongly explain anger and aggressivity, whereas emotional exhaustion only explains 4% of verbalaggression. The study highlights the need to develop prevention strategies of stress, aiming to avoid the development of burnout as occupational chronic stress, and decreasing the risk of developing aggressivity among police officers. Despite the wide literature in the area of police officers’ burnout and individual characteristics (e.g. aggressivity proneness as a personality trait), there is limited research on the relationship between burnout and aggressivity. Within democratic societies where excessive use of force by police officers is criticised, aggressivity predicted by burnout reinforces the need to prevent occupational stress that leads to burnout.

Keywords: Aggressivity, burnout, police officers, patrollers, Portuguese sample

(1) Teacher in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal; co-director of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory (FPCEUP/ESTSPIP