Suchergebnisse

Neighbourhood policing has been called the "cornerstone of British policing" but changing demand, pressures on funding and cyclical political support mean that this approach is under considerable pressure. The book investigates whether this UK model - intended to build confidence and legitimacy - has been successful and assesses its future.

Abstract
Neighbourhood or community policing is receiving renewed attention internationally as a means of responding to a perceived legitimacy crisis in police forces globally. However, with budgets still tight in the post-Covid environment, understanding which activities are most effective and efficient in supporting confidence and legitimacy is vital. This article looks at the workings of London's community-driven ward panel system, chaired by volunteers but administered by the Metropolitan Police. It reports on a study that asked how ward panels contributed to neighbourhood policing; one of very few to explore ward panels as a community policing structure. A series of observations and interviews were carried out as part of a case study of a single London borough. The study found that ward panels contributed in a number of ways, facilitating partnership working, building connections with hard-to-reach communities, and enhancing police accessibility. Significantly, several panels had begun to develop autonomy in identifying and resolving local problems. This article discusses the potential for semi-autonomous community bodies such as ward panels to contribute to the work of community or neighbourhood policing, thereby relieving demand on forces, and weighs up the risks entailed.

Research on police legitimacy and public confidence underlines the importance of the police demonstrating moral alignment with the communities they serve. However, less attention is given to conflict between values, either within communities or between communities and the police. This study explores value conflicts in community or neighbourhood policing from a perspective of political realism, which suggests that such conflicts are inevitable and can only be resolved in temporary and contingent ways. It does so through a case study of neighbourhood policing, seen through local ward panel meetings, in one London borough. In total, 33 semi-structured interviews with 43 participants were undertaken, and seven hours of observations. This paper identifies four value-based conflicts that emerged through the meetings, and shows how neighbourhood police officers were able to provisionally resolve them, thus supporting confidence and legitimacy. However, it also shows how austerity has put this capacity at risk, both operationally, and through a receding of confidence as an organisational priority, with potential long-term consequences for public confidence in the police. With global protests such as Black Lives Matters, and anti-lockdown demonstrations, underlining the importance of public confidence and legitimacy to police organisations across the world, this paper adds to the evidence on the capacity of community policing to support this, offers a new perspective to understand the role of values in policing, and discusses the policy implications.