Democratic Policing in Transitional and Developing Countries

Abstract

Democratic Policing in Transitional and Developing Countries is held together on the one hand by a persistent call to link democratic policing reforms to democratic socioeconomic development, and on the other hand by an emphasis on the centrality of understanding the peculiar historical and contemporary socio-political conditions that shape policing in each transitional society. It refutes both top-down and one-size-fitsall approaches to a foreign policy of promoting democratic policing in transitional societies, and reminds us that police reforms can ultimately be achieved by harnessing local knowledge and securing the active involvement of citizens.The book consists of three parts. The first part is mainly a theoretical overview of policing and democratic development. Its four chapters are all written by the editors themselves. Chapter 1 discusses a variety of factors with which any successful democratic transformation of police forces in transitional and post-conflict societies has to reckon. Pino and Wiatrowski argue that these distinctive, but ultimately, interrelated factors -such as citizens' participation in local institutions, levels of social disorganisation, police structure, institutional legitimacy, political stability, and capitalist globalisation -operate at international, national, and sub-national and individual levels. The key issues stressed relate to the need for adequate understanding of the particular historical and current socio-political context of policing -'each state has its own history and problems that must be studied and dealt with on a state-by-state basis' (p.11). Equally importantly, sustainable democratic reforms require that these factors are addressed comprehensively.Chapter 2 examines the adequacy of the community-oriented (COP) model of policing for export to transitional societies. It identifies and discusses inherent flaws in the COP model, which must be addressed if it is not to 'become the same repressive and undemocratic police practices under a new label' (p. 68). What is democratic policing? What are the key principles that underpin it? Chapter 3 provides a succinct discussion and answers to both of these questions. Pino and Wiatrowski raise and address an important issue in Chapter 4, which very few police scholars have considered in their exploration of the modalities for implementing democratic policing in transitional societies. This is the issue of the relationship between crime prevention, democratic institutional reconstruction or restructuring, and socio-economic development more generally. It also examines the role of local knowledge, and how societies can generate and sustain the overall issues linked to police transformation.The second part of this book consists of case studies of selected countries. It begins with Mullick and Nusrat's excellent discussion (in Chapter 5) on the current state of policing and institutional reconstruction in Iraq, and the scope for successful reforms. The authors argue that the negative effects of the occupation by multi-nation...

What Future for Policing? Some Reflections on the Concept and Purpose of Policing and Their Implications for Police Reform in England and Wales

“…Policing is thus inseparable from the context it is embedded in. This politically utilitarian approach is reiterated by other western scholars such as Szikinger (2001) and Pino and Wiatrowski (2006) as well as by some state development organisations (Denney and Domingo, 2017). Yet, as Tankebe (2013) and Kapoor (2013) note, in practice there is a misalignment between the intent to build stable democratic institutions with access to justice for all and the functions of post-colonial or post-conflict policing agencies which tend to support the established political order.…”

“…The linguistic challenge of conceptualising policing is evident in the vast array of qualifying terms that are used in the context of policing policy transfer to transitional states: Non State Policing (Baker, 2009a); Peacebuilding and Police Reform (Tanke-Holm and Barth-Eide, 2000); Community Policing and Peacebuilding (Grabosky, 2009); UN Policing (Harrington, 2008); Post-Colonial Policing (Cole, 1999); Private Policing (Johnston, 2000); Post Conflict Policing (Baker, 2009b;2009b;; Terrorism Policing (Gregory, 2007;Deflem, 2010); Intelligent Policing (Harfield, 2008) and Democratic Policing (Manning, 2010;Pino and Wiatrowski, 2006). Some of these terms describe a new or adapted function; others describe the entity that delivers a function that the author considers to be traditionally or regularly undertaken by the police, while democratic policing describes not just a function or agent but also a value system.…”

Neo-colonial penality? Travelling penal power and contingent sovereignty

“…Growing criminological attention has been devoted to international and Western efforts of security sector reform (SSR) and police reform in ‘developing’ countries (e.g. Blaustein, 2015; Ellison and Pino, 2012; Goldsmith and Scheptycki, 2007; Pino and Wiatrowski, 2006). Yet, these contributions have noticed that Western export of policing and criminal justice models often counteract democratic institutions rather than fostering them, because they are geared at indirect control through the preservation of the elites in power; driven more by donor countries’ security interests than by local needs (Blaustein, 2015; Ellison and Pino, 2012).…”

Embodiments and frictions of statehood in transnational criminal justice

“…To date, few criminologists have analysed and conceptualized the meeting point between transnational and local criminal justice in the context of international state-building, and those who have done so have focused in particular on police reform and training (Blaustein, 2015;Bowling and Sheptycki, 2012;Brogden and Nijhar, 2005;Ellison and Pino, 2012;Goldsmith and Sheptycki, 2007;Pino and Wiatrowski, 2006). Importantly, these scholars have brought attention to the fact that the 'one size fits all' crime control and policing models exported and transplanted embody Global North notions of 'democracy', 'rights' and 'stateness' which do not take into account the local 'history, politics, culture, legal norms, the existence of a functioning state infrastructure and the presence of elite groups who are normatively committed to democratization' (Ellison and Pino, 2012: 56).…”