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Results‐based agreements for the police in The Netherlands

Arie van Sluis (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Lex Cachet (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Arthur Ringeling (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

Policing: An International Journal

ISSN: 1363-951X

Article publication date: 20 August 2008

1093

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to present the findings of research into the impact of a new performance system for the police in The Netherlands.

Design/methodology/approach

For this research, the international literature about the effects and side effects of performance steering in the public sector was scanned and more than 150 local stakeholders in five Dutch police regions were interviewed in semi‐open interviews, using a checklist. The study analyzed the specific impact of the results‐based agreements in various branches.

Findings

On the whole, the police do not get isolated as a consequence of the results‐based agreements and they do not disassociate themselves from the societal networks they participated in before. The authors offer several explanations why many of the expected negative effects have not occurred.

Originality/value

Valuable in this article is the focus on the situational context and the implementation context for an adequate assessment of the significance of performance‐based steering of the police in practice. It gives an update of the Dutch state of affairs and recommends another starting point for police performance measurement in the near future.

Keywords

Citation

van Sluis, A., Cachet, L. and Ringeling, A. (2008), "Results‐based agreements for the police in The Netherlands", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 415-434. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510810895786

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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