Fiona Wadie - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Fiona Wadie

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENCE, SECURITY, AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, 2017

To better understand police intelligence practice, we examined practitioners’ views of their work... more To better understand police intelligence practice, we examined
practitioners’ views of their work and their relations with the
wider law enforcement community. We surveyed intelligence
staff (n = 110) and interviewed a random sample of respondents
(n = 12). Our analysis suggested that traditionalism and the
dominant action-oriented culture limit the organization’s understanding
of intelligence practice. Largely, the focus in that context
has been on street cops’ propensity to reject reflection in
favor of action, but intelligence practitioners need also look to
themselves. Too often, the philosophy of “need to know” is
prioritized over its antithesis, “dare to share.” Though perceived
by practitioners as low-risk and consistent with organizational
norms, we argue that inappropriately applied “need to know” is
the enemy of efficiency and real accountability, offering low
levels of reward and discouraging the kinds of partnership,
reciprocity, and multi-directional knowledge transfer that policing
needs to be successful in the information age. We reconceptualized
an interactivity/isolationism continuum, used in the
natural sciences, to help interpret that phenomenon. We argue
that isolationism is but one factor in a complex organizational
dynamic, but it is a significant one because it can subtly limit the
influence and reach of the intelligence milieu in previously
unacknowledged ways.

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENCE, SECURITY, AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, 2017

To better understand police intelligence practice, we examined practitioners’ views of their work... more To better understand police intelligence practice, we examined
practitioners’ views of their work and their relations with the
wider law enforcement community. We surveyed intelligence
staff (n = 110) and interviewed a random sample of respondents
(n = 12). Our analysis suggested that traditionalism and the
dominant action-oriented culture limit the organization’s understanding
of intelligence practice. Largely, the focus in that context
has been on street cops’ propensity to reject reflection in
favor of action, but intelligence practitioners need also look to
themselves. Too often, the philosophy of “need to know” is
prioritized over its antithesis, “dare to share.” Though perceived
by practitioners as low-risk and consistent with organizational
norms, we argue that inappropriately applied “need to know” is
the enemy of efficiency and real accountability, offering low
levels of reward and discouraging the kinds of partnership,
reciprocity, and multi-directional knowledge transfer that policing
needs to be successful in the information age. We reconceptualized
an interactivity/isolationism continuum, used in the
natural sciences, to help interpret that phenomenon. We argue
that isolationism is but one factor in a complex organizational
dynamic, but it is a significant one because it can subtly limit the
influence and reach of the intelligence milieu in previously
unacknowledged ways.