Policing in Smart Societies: Reflections on the Abstract Police (Palgrave's Critical Policing Studies)

Smart societies pose new challenges for police organizations. Demands for more efficiency and effectiveness test police organizations which are often resistant to change. This book uses the concept of the abstract police to describe the way in which police organizations have tried to adapt to these new evolutions and the consequences. The chapters stem from a conference called "Street Policing in a Smart Society" which sought to frame and analyse these developments in policing. In this book, the concept of the abstract police is introduced, analysed and then challenged from different angles, looking at the evolutions related to technology, plural policing, police discretion and police decision making. As such, the book is a reflection of current debates on policing and police organization, aiming to give input to the debate by providing new insights on police and police work. Antoinette Verhage is Professor of Criminology at Ghent University, Belgium, and a member of the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP). Her research and teaching activities focus on police and policing, integrity and deontology. She is a member of diverse international editorial boards and of the Flemish Centre of Policing and Security. Marleen Easton is Professor and Head of the UGent research group 'Governing and Policing Security' (GaPS), Belgium, and Adjunct Professor at the Griffith Criminology Institute, Australia. She is President of the Belgian Innovation Network for Security (vzw Iungos) and is an active member of the Flemish Centre of Policing and Security. Sofie De Kimpe is Professor of Criminology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium, and a member of the Crime & Society research group (CRiS). Her main research expertise is qualitative and ethnographic research in police and policing. She is Chair of the EU COST ACTION POLICE STOPS and an active member of the Flemish Centre of Policing and Security Acknowledgments/Note from the Editors (Verhage, De Kimpe, Easton) Contents Notes on Contributors Introducing Policing in Smart Cities: Reflections on the Abstract Police References Abstract Police Organisations: Distantiation, Decontextualisation and Digitalisation The Context of Discovery The Client and the Computer Screen Murder of a Nurse in a Hospital Parking Area The Search for an Adequate Concept The Abstract Police: Changing Internal and External Relations Internal Relations External Relations Main Drivers and Forces Concluding Remarks: Some Additional Notes References Reflections on the Abstract Police Using the Perspective of Ideal-Types Ideal-Type: What’s in a Name? The Tradition of Using Ideal-Types in Police Research The Core of the “Abstract Police” as an “Ideal-Type” Some Methodological Reflections Conclusion: Adding Balance to the Debate References Technology and Police Legitimacy Introduction Technology and Street Policing in Smart Societies Police Legitimacy: What Is It, and Why Should We Care? Abstract Police What Do We Know About Technologically Mediated Contact and Police Legitimacy? Mobile Data Terminals in Frontline Policing MDTs, Organisational Justice and Internal Legitimacy MDTs and External Legitimacy MDTs and Social Media Visibility MDTs, ‘Big Data’ and Artificial Intelligence for Predictive Policing Purposes Public Use of Mobile Devices as Related to Policing Social Media Online Contact and Reporting Conclusion References Plural Policing and the Abstract Police Introduction The Abstract Police Internal Relations External Relations Critiques of the Concept The Pluralisation of Policing Police Outsourcing to the Private Sector Private Security Industry Pluralisation of the Public Police Conclusion: Neoliberalism, Pluralised Policing and the Abstract Police References Do We Need Discretion? Police Decisions and the Limits of the Law Introduction Room for Manoeuvre: The Basics of Police Discretion Discovering Discretion Impacts on Discretion Advocates and Adversaries of Discretion Potential Downsides: Selectivity and Overpolicing Potential Advantages: Police Work as Craftmanship Discretion and National Contexts of Policing Discretion in Different Settings Discretion in the Netherlands and Scotland Discretion in Belgium The Impact of New Public Management Conclusion: How to Deal with Discretion References The Abstract Police: An Exploration of the Concept in the Belgian Local Police Introduction The Concept of the Abstract Police Exploration of the Belgian Local Police Methodology Internal Relations External Relations Digitalisation Discussion Organisational Changes Changing Views on Policing The COVID-19 Pandemic as an Accelerating Factor? Conclusion References Laws and Regulations Index