Generating Common Sense Knowledge Among Police Officers

This research looks at police officers to illustrate how common sense knowledge is generated within the context of everyday life routines. At a broader level, this research challenges the idea that common sense knowledge is innate, spontaneously generated, or simply transmitted from one generation to the next. Common sense knowledge is highly valued in police culture as a means of dealing with the many ambiguous situations that officers face. This study describes how police recruits are taught to accept and respond effectively to the ambiguity intrinsic in most situations. Finally, the article provides empirical evidence of the process by which police officers collectively generate common sense knowledge, emphasizing the role of work-related routines.