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The purpose of this paper is to explore the negotiation of boundaries of strategic vs operational responsibility between Chief Constables and Police Crime Commissioners (PCCs).

The discussion reflects on interviews with Chief Constables (n=11) and PCCs (n=11) in matched pairs, exploring the relationship between the two figures, specifically in relation to the issue of the operational independence of the Chief Constable in the new accountability structure.

The findings demonstrate that experiences vary and depend on the particular personalities and experience of the individuals involved. PCCs were particularly likely to test the boundary of operational vs strategic responsibility in relation to issues which had been brought to their attention by members of their electorate.

Future research could seek a larger sample as it is possible that those areas where real tensions existed declined to participate. Given the findings, it would also be informative to revisit the topic in the run-up to the next PCC elections.

The (re)negotiation of boundaries may become the norm given that both roles are subject to reassignment at short notice, and may become particularly salient in the run-up to future PCC elections. Crucial policing decisions which affect everyone are inevitably influenced by these background negotiations.

Previous research has not been based on interviews with both PCCs and their respective Chief Constables, and hence there is dearth of material which reflects on the relationships between these two powerful individuals and their ongoing negotiations of issues with real practical and conceptual implications.

This paper aims to explore the potential impact on policing by consent and trust in the police of diminished political and generalised trust.

This paper draws on a range of academic literature on trust, the legal foundations of policing by consent, police occupational culture, disproportionality and neighbourhood policing.

An analytical framework is developed by recognising that policing by consent can be conceived as comprising two complementary facets, police state consent and police citizen consent and drawing lose mappings between police state consent and political trust and police citizen consent and generalised trust. This supports the argument that the importance of tackling disproportionality in policing practices and an increased emphasis on neighbourhood policing are not only valuable for reasons recognised in existing literature but also because they may bolster policing by consent in circumstances of reduced political trust and contribute to increased generalised trust across society.

This paper builds upon existing work on trust in the police and policing by consent to give novel insights into the importance of neighbourhood policing and tackling disproportionality. The analytical frame developed also highlights new areas for nuanced research questions in the field of trust and provides grounding from which policy objectives for policing can be developed.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the background of the proposal contained in the coalition government's Police and Social Responsibility legislation to replace police authorities with directly elected police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and to evaluate the potential problems that will arise from this reform.

The research is library‐based, utilising a range of primary and secondary sources. The objectives of the research are addressed by examining a number of key themes: the creation of police authorities; the evolution of police authorities; the target regime; consequences of increased central control over policing; the Community Empowerment agenda; the reform of police authorities; the 2010 coalition government and PCCs; problems posed by PCCs; and the progress of reform.

The research established that the role performed by police authorities in the governance of policing was in need of reform, in particular because of their inability to ensure that local concerns were adequately addressed by their police forces. However, it is argued that replacing an authority with one single person possessing considerable powers over policing poses significant dangers which include the potential of this reform to politicise the police.

The paper presents a detailed analysis of a key aspect of coalition government policing policy and seeks to establish that what is proposed contains serious weaknesses which must be addressed in order to provide for a workable system of police governance. It is of relevance to those engaged in delivering policing, crime prevention and community safety agendas.

Although the private sector has long understood that a customer-focused service is synonymous with success, the concept is less embedded in public agencies such as the Police. Cultural studies consistently argue that police practitioners perceive “citizen focused” or “quality of service” approaches as distant to “real policing”, making the concept difficult to implement. The purpose of this paper is to explore the complex infrastructure required for the implementation of this approach, specifically focusing on senior police leadership.

Using semi-structured interviews across a diversity of police officers and staff it provides a case study of a city Police Force in England, who attempted to introduce a citizen focused approach between 2006-2010.

Senior police leaders were reported to exhibit distinct and consistent leadership styles with a “transformational” style more positively associated with the implementation of this agenda.

The study argues specific leadership styles are critical to the delivery of “quality” approaches.

No other case studies currently exist that have explored the role of police leadership in the field of quality service/citizen focused approaches.

Compares the relationship of selection and training of police officers in Sweden and the USA. The ability to identify stable, effective police officers continues to baffle police administrators. The selection of US police officers has become a complex procedure that often requires six months to complete, consuming a great deal of the department’s recruiting resources. In spite of such intricate investigations, rates of dropouts in recruit training and termination for misconduct is high. In Sweden, law enforcement is considered one of the highest regarded professions. More than 8,000 individuals compete for the approximately 400 law enforcement positions filled annually. In comparison to most US police departments, Sweden’s selection process appears simplistic; however, a minute number of officers have been lost through terminations or drop out from training. The current study compares the relationship between the Swedish community’s perception of the police, the ability to select from a large pool of applicants, and an elaborate three‐year education/ socialization period with the US public perception of the police, an intricate selection process, and relatively short training period. Implications of the potential changes in Sweden’s selection and training process are also discussed.

This article presents an overview and assessment of recent reforms that have contributed to a pluralisation and fragmentation of policing in England and Wales. It considers the emergence of new forms of visible policing both within and beyond the public police. These include the growth of private security guards and patrols, local auxiliaries such as neighbourhood wardens and the introduction of second tier police personnel in the shape of the new police community support officers. To varying degrees plural forms of policing seek to offer public reassurance through visible patrols. The article goes on to explore the complex nature of relations between the “extended police family” and the different modes of governance they suggest. It concludes with a consideration of the future shape of reassurance policing.

The paper focuses on current debates about police professionalism. It explores the nature and meaning of what has been termed “old” professionalism, which focuses on the role of the police as “professional crime fighters”, and then assesses the extent to which there has been a transition to a “new” professionalism centred on enhanced accountability, legitimacy and evidence‐based practice. The paper aims to show how the recent attempt to embed this “new” professionalism within policing in England and Wales is likely to be compromised by the broader political and economic context of police reform.

The paper is based on a review of key contributions to the debates about police professionalism in the USA and the UK.

The paper provides important insights into the way in which there are competing and conflicting meanings attached to police professionalism and argues that claims that there have been significant transitions from one form of professionalism to another need to be treated with caution. The paper also emphasises the uncertain trajectory of the development of police professionalism in England and Wales in the future as a result of the complex interplay between the different elements of the coalition government's police reform programme.

The paper demonstrates the multiple meanings of the term “police professionalism” and the challenges that surround developing professional policing.

Many countries aim to improve public services by use of information and communication technology (ICT) in public service supply chains. However, the literature does not address how inter-organizational ICT is used in redesigning these particular supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to explore this important and under-investigated area.

An explorative multiple-case study was performed based on 36 interviews, 39 documents, extensive field visits and observations providing data on digital transformation in four European criminal justice supply chains.

Two different design approaches to digital transformation were found, which are labelled digitization and digitalization. These approaches are characterized by differences in public service strategies, performance aims, and how specific public characteristics and procedures are dealt with. Despite featuring different roles for ICT, both types show the viable digital transformation of public service supply chains. Additionally, the application of inter-organizational ICT is found not to automatically result in changes in the coordination and management of the chain, in contrast to common assumptions.

This paper is one of the first to adopt an inter-organizational perspective on the use of ICT in public service supply chains. The findings have scientific and managerial value because fine-grained insights are provided into how public service supply chains can use ICT in an inter-organizational setting. The study shows the dilemmas faced by and possible options for public organizations when designing digital service delivery.

This purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between political independence and operational impartiality in regard to the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies (ACAs). Against this background of western orthodoxy, it asks whether a non-western country with high levels of corruption (Vietnam being an example) can find another pathway in its efforts to effectively combat corruption.

An exercise in qualitative conceptual clarification and theoretical speculation, drawing upon practical examples.

It is argued that it is important to distinguish between de jure and de facto political independence, and that neither can be fully understood unless they are considered in relationship to other key values, particularly operational impartiality, public accountability, and systemic legitimacy, and in the context of bureaucratic politics. There is little coherent theoretical knowledge available about the relationships among these variables. Such values are central to western notions of “good government” but are much less institutionalised in non-western jurisdictions with high levels of corruption. The question is raised: can such countries, Vietnam being one example, develop effective anti-corruption strategies which because of the nature of their own political system, cannot depend on political independence for its ACAs?

Attention is drawn to some conceptual and putatively theoretical issues relating to the effectiveness of ACAs, and which have received little explicit attention in the relevant academic literature.

This paper aims to explore the recent introduction of directly elected police and crime commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales, and to consider to what extent this new innovation should be considered as a positive contribution to the achievement of democratic policing.

The paper draws on a range of key sources of academic literature on police accountability and the sociology of policing, as well as considering the content of government pronouncements and legislation.

The central argument of the paper is that the introduction of PCCs needs to be examined within the context of the hegemony of neo-liberal logic in public services reform. It is argued that some enduring myths of policing, including the myth that the police impartially uphold an impartial law, lend themselves to the depoliticisation of policing which is necessary in order to facilitate neo-liberal colonisation of the service, which is inimical to democratic policing.

The paper builds upon and contests some of the early critiques of the introduction of PCCs which have emerged and proposes a new direction for the development of critique in this area. It will be of interest to policing scholars as well as anyone concerned about the relationship between democracy and policing under current conditions of deep public service cuts and the colonisation of service provision by neo-liberal values.