Technological innovation in a police organization: Lessons learned from the National Police of the Netherlands

Abstract

Police organizations internationally explore and experiment with new technologies to improve their performance and in response to new forms of crime. The police in the Netherlands experiment with various forms of innovative technology. Previous research has shown that social, organizational, and technological factors are important for effective use and deployment of technology by the police. However, the precise factors and mechanisms underlying the promotion or inhibition of technological innovations within the police are not clear. This study aims to provide empirical knowledge about these mechanisms by providing insight into the processes through which technological innovation develops within the police in the Netherlands. From January 2017 to February 2018, 13 technological innovation projects were subjected to a longitudinal process study. The results show that innovation processes within the police organization are often inhibited by organizational factors, whereas social factors can stimulate and promote these processes.

The influence of service innovation on police performance: an empirical investigation

“…Academic studies on innovation and its influence on policing yielded opposing viewpoints on policing innovations (Braga and Weisburd, 2019;Ernst et al, 2021;Matusiak and King, 2021;Alosani et al, 2020). For example, Alosani et al (2020) reported the significance of innovation in police performance while Ernst et al (2021) stated that police agencies were not concerned about innovations due to organisational factors. Police agency resistance to change resulted in police officers encountering innovation issues (Capowich and Roehl, 1994;Sadd and Grinc, 1994;Sparrow et al, 1990).…”

“…This situation inspired additional innovation research but the findings regarding the influence of innovation on police performance were inconclusive and contradictory (Garc ıa- Buades et al, 2015). While some authors reported a positive effect (Altuntas et al, 2018;Alosani et al, 2020), other authors reported negative results (Tahir et al, 2018;Ernst et al, 2021;Hilmi et al, 2010) or no link at all (Darroch, 2005;Park, 2007;P erez-Cabañero et al, 2015). The aforementioned examples demonstrated that innovation alone did not affect organisational performance, where other factors might have affected their association.…”

The integrated effect of Kaizen and innovation culture on the police performance: an empirical investigation

“…It was suggested to improve and develop police services by outfitting them with effective methods such as new technology (Ernst et al, 2021), making a paradigm shift through innovations (Willis and Mastrofski, 2011) and adopting continuous improvement tools. Despite the importance of adopting new technology and innovations, previous experiences have demonstrated that when organisations invest large sums of money and time in unsustainable innovation attempts, long-term gains do not occur (Kong and Muthuveloo, 2022).…”

“…It was suggested to improve and develop police services by outfitting them with effective methods such as new technology (Ernst et al. , 2021), making a paradigm shift through innovations (Willis and Mastrofski, 2011) and adopting continuous improvement tools.…”

Transformationsprozesse in der Polizeiausbildung der Bayerischen Bereitschaftspolizei : Eine Analyse des Wandels innerhalb der Bildungslandschaft der Bayerischen Polizeiausbildung

“…This fact is interesting in three respects. First of all, it has become evident by now that the development of digital competences must be a top priority for police organisations (Ernst, Veen & Kop, 2021) and that police officers need to be digitally literate (Ramshaw & Soppitt, 2018). Second, the use of digitalised learning and working tools (smartphone, tablet, interactive whiteboard or virtual reality-glasses) in police education and training affects the above-mentioned areas in several ways.…”