Styles of policing and police–public interactions: The question of stop-and-search by police units in France

Abstract

Styles of policing are reflected in the methods, decisions and priorities of law enforcement agencies. Based on an ethnographic study of police work in two major French metropolitan areas, this article identifies the styles of policing enforced in France, based on the use of discretionary stop-and-search. Despite nuances due to the variety of units, places and watch commanders, policing is delivered in a mostly proactive and confrontational way, which is reflected in a proliferation of units having an aggressive mandate. Stop-and-search is used to detect criminal activity, ‘take over’ territories and assert police authority, especially when the latter is challenged.

Experiencing Police Stops in France

“…This study thus shows the negative effects associated with a style of action relying on proactive stops (de Maillard et al, 2018;de Maillard & Zagrodzki, 2021): on the one hand, a relatively high level of ordinary tensions (insults, aggression) but, on the other hand, a decrease in trust and a more critical sense of citizenship. The combination of quantitative (highlighting the extension of low-level tensions) and observational (highlighting the unfolding of everyday conflicts) results consolidates the diagnosis: repetition of controls and unethical behaviours feed the risks of tensions and distrust between the police and the public.…”

“…Observations and interviews focused mostly on constables and sergeants (policiers and brigadiers) from Police-secours (uniformed emergency response and patrol units), the brigades anti-criminalité (BAC, plainclothes squads whose job consists mainly in catching criminals in the act), and other entities that stand somewhere in between (local security groups, daytime units, transport police). Here we will focus on the contents of the interactions (293 interactions were recorded) (see de Maillard et al, 2018;de Maillard & Zagrodzki, 2021; for the German part, see Hunold et al, 2016), based on fine-grained descriptions of situations in order to uncover the full complexity of observed interactions. The observations and interviews were conducted by three trained researchers (including the author).…”

“…Much research has shown that police officers have a great deal of autonomy in deciding what 'suspicious behaviour' or what 'public order' is. Convergent research results have shown that French street policing is dominated by a rather enforcement-focused and confrontational style (Lévy, 2016), displaying forms of moral violence and discrimination (Fassin, 2013), although there are a variety of practices across a variety of street units, more or less proactive, confrontational or unfamiliar with territories they police (de Maillard & Zagrodzki, 2021). Identity checks are a common policing tactic, serving multiple purposes, such as preventing crime, asserting police authority or collecting information (de Maillard et al, 2018;Gauthier, 2015).…”

“…French police officers mostly believe that it is legitimate to control the identity of individuals in any situation because they are authorized by the law and that they do not necessarily have to justify themselves (see de Maillard & Zagrodzki, 2021). This attitude may lead them to adopt rather adversarial approaches, especially towards citizens that challenge their definition of the situation.…”

Exploring the roles and challenges of the servant leadership: A critical examination of the Bangladesh police

“…The present study follows an ethnographic approach [ 104 , 105 , 106 ] to explore the SL roles and challenges of the BP. A participant observation [ 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 ] was used to explore the SL challenges of BP.…”