Governing police practice: limits of the new accountability

The advent of public-sector managerialism has brought with it a new principle of police accountability in Western democracies such as Australia and Britain. The new accountability gives emphasis to managerial rather than legal or public-interest standards, favours external oversight combined with self-regulation rather than centralized control, and promotes risk management rather than rule enforcement. This article makes use of the experience of an Australian police force to show that the new accountability has not been successful in holding police accountable, while elements of the old accountability have re-emerged to dominate public debates. It is argued that in the area of police governance, the neo-liberal state does not necessarily pursue a coherent strategy of 'acting at a distance' (cf. Miller and Rose 1990), partly because of the inability of accountability technologies to deliver substantially the promised policy outcomes and partly because of the sensitivity of its political arm to the public's moral outrage against corruption (cf. Garland 1996).     

Engaging Indigenous Communities: Towards a Policy Framework for Indigenous Community Justice Programmes

Community engagement has come to the fore as a policy and programme approach that seeks to connect citizens both with each other and with government in order to deliver improved social and economic opportunities and outcomes. This model has become a key aspect of the intervention approach within Indigenous communities and is seen to have particular application in addressing community justice issues. This article examines a suite of community justice initiatives being used in Indigenous communities in Australia with a view to ascertaining how the principles of community engagement are operationalized. The article draws on this information and argues that community engagement is only one aspect of a number of community‐oriented justice initiatives currently being applied. These initiatives range from concepts of community as a location, community as an interest group, and the leveraging of community capital so as to tap into and build better and stronger relationships. In so doing, the latter attempts to increase the social infrastructure, resources and capacity of communities. However, despite government attention in this area, there is a lack of a policy and programmatic framework to guide a coherent and apposite approach to issues of community in specific policy settings. The article contributes to the development of a framework that begins the process of differentiating and assessing justice administration interventions.     

It's a long way to Auchterarder! 'Negotiated management' and mismanagement in the policing of G8 protests

Recent analyses of protest policing in Western democracies argue that there has been a marked shift away from oppressive or coercive approaches to an emphasis on consensus based negotiation. King and Waddington (2005) amongst others, however, suggest that the policing of international summits may be an exception to this rule. This paper examines protest policing in relation to the 2005 G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. We argue that 'negotiated management' cannot be imported wholesale as a policing strategy. Rather it is mediated by local history, forms of police knowledge and modes of engagement. Drawing on interviews and participant observation we show that 'negotiated management' works best when both sides are committed to negotiation and that police stereotyping or protestor intransigence can lead to the escalation of any given event. In closing we note the new challenges posed by forms of 'global' protest and consider the implications for future policing of protest.     

论明清乡约属性与职能的变迁

明清两代政府都致力于中央集权体制的建设,并力图把社会基层的管理也纳入到整个政治管理体系中。乡约本是宋代士大夫倡导的加强基层社会道德建设的民间组织形式,到明代朱元璋所创设的老人制度敝坏之后,乡约又获重新提倡。清朝政府继续推行乡约,并赋予乡约更多的权力和义务。在乡约的发展过程中,民间性是一贯的,但与官府的关系呈现出日益密切的倾向。乡约的职能主要是思想道德的教化,但不同时期、不同地区乃至不同乡约的具体职能有所差异,职能的变化可以映现基层社会的运行状况。     

The behaviour of police officers in conflict situations: how burnout and reduced dominance contribute to better outcomes

Dominance plays an important part in police-civilian interactions. However, burnout is associated with a reduction in dominance, and this might, paradoxically, lead to more effective outcomes in conflict situations. There is a lack of knowledge about the effects of burnout in professional practice, and this multi-method study was conducted to better understand these dynamics. It is unique in that it combined self-reported burnout with observed behaviour in interactions with civilians. In this study, the relationships between the imbalance between demands and rewards, occupational burnout and police officers' behaviour in conflict situations (in terms of dominance and effectiveness) were examined. A questionnaire was used to assess job demands, rewards and burnout among 358 Dutch police officers. In addition, police officers' interactions with civilians were observed over 122 days. The results of structural equation modelling analyses showed that the imbalance between job demands and rewards was predictive of burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization). Burnout, in its turn, predicted a decrease in dominant behaviour in conflict situations and, consequently, more effective conflict outcomes. These findings show that reduced dominance associated with burnout could in fact have positive consequences for professional behaviour in conflict situations. The benefits of reduced dominance in these situations should be taken into account in the training of professionals.     

Bridge Over the River Crime: Mobility and the Policing of Organised Crime

Abstract

This paper examines the significant disparity between the mobility of organised crime and the mobility of law enforcement through the use of Kaufmann’s (2002 Kaufmann, V. 2002. Re-thinking mobility. Contemporary sociology. Aldershot: Ashgate. [Google Scholar]) three categories of motility: access, skills and appropriation. It argues that the differential mobility of organised crime and law enforcement can be accounted for by the differential insertion of these groups of actors into ‘the practice and politics of market liberalisation and the practice and politics of market criminalisation’, and suggests that it is possible to view each of these as inhabiting ‘different modernities’. It concludes that whilst mobility systems are critical to understanding the movement of these groups of actors, these systems are themselves embedded within different institutional structures that shape the opportunities to be mobile, in particular economic and political structures.     

论我国警务改革的特点、动因及方向

我国警务改革经历了萌芽、起步和发展几个时期,呈现出诸多自身的特点,它反映了经济、政治、科技对警务改革的影响。站在新起点,我国警务改革应当遵循警务变革的规律,以民生警务、法治警务和智能警务为方向,重点处理好警务管理层级、警务信息化、社区乡村警务、治安防控体系等问题。     

关于大学学报“特色”讨论的反思

通过考察大量"学报特色生命论"相关论文的观点,我们发现,在编辑学理论关于大学学报范围的研究中,有一个所谓重要命题就是"特色生命论"。这个命题,并没有真正把学报特色与其历史使命和功能的根本关系摆正,难以成立。1.科学和登载它的学报不一定非要有特色。学术是研究社会、人类、自然界现象背后共同规律的思维活动,是"天下之共器"。2.关于大学学报的历史使命:首先,我国法律规定了高等学校学报的功能"是高等学校主办的、以反映本校科研和教学成果为主的学术理论刊物";其次,权威实例和权威观点证明并论证了我国高等学校学报的功能是"为大学职员学生共同研究学术、发挥思想、披露心得之机关杂志"。学报的本质是学术期刊,其安身立命必须按照学术期刊的办刊规律来办刊,放弃学术期刊的这个历史使命和主要职能,而去追求所谓"特色",是本末倒置。3.学报不看重"特色",并不意味着不需要编辑策划,编辑部的中心任务就是在把握学报本质、发挥学报功能、履行学报历史使命上下工夫;这也并不意味着放弃地域文化优势的发挥。     

The behaviour of police officers in conflict situations: how burnout and reduced dominance contribute to better outcomes

Dominance plays an important part in police-civilian interactions. However, burnout is associated with a reduction in dominance, and this might, paradoxically, lead to more effective outcomes in conflict situations. There is a lack of knowledge about the effects of burnout in professional practice, and this multi-method study was conducted to better understand these dynamics. It is unique in that it combined self-reported burnout with observed behaviour in interactions with civilians. In this study, the relationships between the imbalance between demands and rewards, occupational burnout and police officers’ behaviour in conflict situations (in terms of dominance and effectiveness) were examined. A questionnaire was used to assess job demands, rewards and burnout among 358 Dutch police officers. In addition, police officers’ interactions with civilians were observed over 122 days. The results of structural equation modelling analyses showed that the imbalance between job demands and rewards was predictive of burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization). Burnout, in its turn, predicted a decrease in dominant behaviour in conflict situations and, consequently, more effective conflict outcomes. These findings show that reduced dominance associated with burnout could in fact have positive consequences for professional behaviour in conflict situations. The benefits of reduced dominance in these situations should be taken into account in the training of professionals.