Policing and the Feeling of Safety: the Rise (and Fall?) of Community Policing in the Nordic Countries

Feelings of Safety In The Presence Of the Police, Security Guards, and Police Volunteers

“…Another important contribution is whether the number of police officers present has an impact on feelings of safety, an aspect of patrolling which has not been covered in previous research (see, e.g., Balkin and Houlden 1983;Bennett 1991;Cordner 1986;Hinkle and Weisburd 2008;Holmberg 2005;Kelling et al 1974;Knutsson 1995;Pate et al 1986;Rowland and Coupe 2013;Salmi et al 2004;Winkel 1986). The present study also contributes with knowledge regarding patrol with a police vehicle.…”

“…A possible explanation of these findings might be that increased police presence, without information as to why, can make residents believe that the area is dangerous and that something crime related has happened and therefore reduce the feelings of safety (Hinkle and Weisburd 2008;Holmberg 2005;Winkel 1986). Finally, there are also studies showing no association between increased police presence and feelings of safety (Bennett 1991;Kelling et al 1974).…”

“…Finally, we hypothesize that people will feel less safe by six foot patrolling police officers as compared to two foot patrolling police officers. This hypothesis was derived from previous studies showing that people might consider unusual police activity a sign of increased crime and therefore assume that the area is more dangerous (Hinkle and Weisburd 2008;Holmberg 2005;Winkel 1986). Although not hypothesized about, we also investigate whether people would feel equally safe in the presence of security guards and police volunteers as compared to without such presence, as well as if these non-policing groups contribute to more safety than the police vehicle does.…”

Perceptions of Interprofessional Collaboration

“…The original objective of the shift towards coordinated practices within crime prevention has been to improve communication and partnerships between local municipalities and the police, and in this way to prevent crime through information exchange and early intervention (Gundhus et al, 2008;Holmberg, 2005). Central Norwegian policy documents emphasize that collaboration cultivates the various professions' uniqueness in competences, hard-core activities, and jurisdictions (see e.g.…”

Editorial Introduction

“…Numerous studies have been published that critically examine the impact and effectiveness of different kinds of community-oriented approaches in the UK and elsewhere. These include, for example, commentaries on the conceptual ambiguity of " community policing " ( Fielding, 2005 ); the potential tension between a community-or citizen-driven policing style and a policing regime driven by performance indicators and targets ( Herrington and Millie, 2006 ); the emerging infrastructures of partnership approaches to governance ( Crawford, 2006 ;Gilling and Schuller, 2007 ); the " rise and fall " of proximity policing in the Nordic countries ( Holmberg, 2004 ); and the reconfi guration of organizational relations at the local level ( Hughes and Rowe, 2007 ). This Special Issue contributes to this burgeoning fi eld by discussing some of the limitations of " understanding communities " through the lens of national directives, performance indicators and targets; the prevailing requirement to identify local priorities by reference to an " all-purpose " (or " unifi x " ) epistemological and methodological framework, tends to elide what may be community-specifi c with the effect that how any issue is framed, debated, perceived and addressed at the local level, may be lost from view.…”