European Journal of Policing Studies – Jaargang 2/1 (2014) (ISSN 2034-760x) – Special issue Policing European Metropolises

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Contents:

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

Articles

Policing European Metropolises
P. Ponsaers (1), A. Edwards (2), A. Verhage (3) & A. Recasens i Brunet (4)

(1) Senior professor emeritus at Ghent University, Faculty of Law,department Penal Law and Criminology, Belgium and president of the Flemish Centre forPolicing Studies.
(2) Director of the Cardiff Centre for Crime, Law and Justice.
(3) Director of the Institute for Urban Security& Policing Studies [SVA] and postdoc researcher at Ghent University, Belgium.
(4) Associated Professor at the l’Escola de Criminologia de la Universitat d’Oporto (Portugal).

Policing Berlin. From separation by the ‘ironcurtain’ to the new German capitaland a globalised city
H. Aden (1) & E. De Pauw (2)

Abstract
Since the 1990s many authors observe a pluralisation of police functions in Europe. The paper shows that this trend is also recognisable in the city of Berlin. For example, private security companies have gained importance. Their presence may indicate an increasing intensity of formal social control.Prevention in a broach sense has become important for the Berlin State Police. However, policing in this city is also influenced by path-dependencies, going back to the specific situation of a divided city at the frontline of the east-west conflict before 1990 and to the transfer of federal governmentinstitutions to the city since the late 1990s. Specific patterns of the German administrative and legal system also influence policing at Berlin. Compared to the period before 1990 with the presence of the allied military forces and the powerful secret service (Staatssicherheit) in the Eastern part ofthe city, Berlin is probably less securitized today.

Keywords: Berlin Police, comparative research into policing, plural policing, policing globalisedcities, path-dependency

(1) Professor of German and European Public Law at the Berlin School of Economicsand Law.
(2) Lecturer and researcher at the VIVES University College, research group onsafety and security.

Policing Sofia. From centralisation todecentralisation
E. Devroe (1) & M. Petrov (2)

Abstract
In this article, which is embedded in the special issue of the Journal which focuses on the comparativeresearch project ‘Policing European Metropolises’, the general aim is to provide an answerto the research question: ‘Are underlying Anglo-American assumptions regarding trends towardsplural policing recognisable in European local geographical settings’? Our underlying question inthis article concerns whether or not the local empirical situation in Sofia differs from more generalevolutions of policing in Europe. This article will inquire specifically about the (national) influenceof a ‘country in transition’ (Bulgaria) on the territory of the city of Sofia. For reasons of feasibilitythe article is limited to an exploration of the organisation of Bulgarian police. The following mainquestions are answered in this article: (1) What is the nature of the division between the nationalpolice apparatus and local policing bodies?, (2) Are tendencies towards fragmentation and centralisationdetermined at the same time? and (3) Are tendencies towards private governance presentwithin the public domain? Answering these questions requires an exploration of the historicaland contextual background, so that insight into the related Bulgarian realities, particularly thoseof Sofia, might be gained. This article explores the official arrangements regarding the policing ofcrime and disorder in Sofia; it is based on desktop research, mostly internal research from t