Controlling Criminal Investigations: The Case of Undercover Operations (original) (raw)
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Undercover Policing: Assumptions and Empirical Evidence
British Journal of Criminology, 2011
This article describes and analyses the implementation and results of undercover operations in one country (the Netherlands). First, we examine and analyse the main assumptions underlying academic and legislative discourses relating both to the regulation and control of undercover operations and to the kind of results the operations may produce. Second, we analyse documentation and interviews relating to all 89 Dutch criminal investigations in 2004 in which undercover teams were consulted.
The changing “soul” of Dutch policing
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 2007
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Knowledge management systems refer to a class of information systems applied to manage organisational knowledge. Such systems play a critical role in police oversight business, as discussed in this paper. The great majority of individuals involved in policing is committed to honourable and competent public service and is demonstrating high standards of personal and procedural integrity in performing their duties. However, in every police organisation there exists an element of dishonesty, lack of professionalism and criminal behaviour. Police oversight agencies are watchdog bodies designed to ensure that police are operating with integrity and accountability. The Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs is the police oversight agency. Since its establishment in 2005, the Bureau has prosecuted 57 police employees in criminal courts. This paper presents results from a content analysis of these court sentences.
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The Dutch police system has been under pressure during the last decades. Critical debates focused on police' dealing with the growing (perceived) insecurity, the administrative problems of size and efficiency, the core tasks of the police, the distribution of power over the police and it's accountability. These issues have become even more relevant since integrated local safety policies have been developed to tackle public safety problems by the police together with more and different partners, within government or even outside of it. At the same time the national government wants to direct its local and regional partners more, while holding on to local performance. The aim of this article is to show the developments of the last decades that have influenced the (re)organization of the police and the way they are steered and democratically controlled. Police forces are now closely cooperating with other actors in rather complex safety networks, steered by local government and concentrating on their core tasks, leaving more tasks to other actors than in the past. Finding sensible balances between centrally organized tasks and variants of steering (direction), and more local organization and steering (discretion) will be crucial for the future of the public police.
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 2007
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to address the changing organization and culture of the Dutch police over the last decade. Design/methodology/approach -Drawing on personal observation, desk research and a survey among the police and administrative elite in The Netherlands, the paper describes, analyzes and reflects upon developments which are out of tune with the Dutch tradition. Findings -From the 1960s onwards, The Netherlands was famous for her pragmatic, decentralized and friendly style of community policing. The slogan "the police are your best friend" summarizes the "essence" or the "soul" of Dutch policing. Increasingly, however, the typically tolerant, friendly and social policing style has come under pressure. The system of relatively independent regional police departments has been fiercely criticized because of the lack of effectiveness and efficiency in solving crime, safety and security challenges. National government now wants a much bigger say in setting its police programs and priorities. Moreover, as elite government officials stipulate, the police must be more "tough" on crime and terrorism. This attitude has led to centralization, penalization and, at the local level, responsibilization, which signifies that a variety of private, (often profit-seeking) policing agencies and companies are made responsible for public order maintenance. Such changes are leading toward a "state-centered" police model at some distance from citizens, a development that is seen as contrary to the social soul of Dutch policing. Originality/value -The paper offers an analysis into the changing "soul" of Dutch policings.
2006
In this study, we estimate the effects of a tougher, more targeted police response to criminal and disorderly behaviour ('proactive policing'). We use a citizen survey providing unique data on hard-to-observe dimensions of police work for every single municipality in the Netherlands. We relate variation in local policing strategies to individual data on victimisation of crime and experience of disorder and fear of crime over the period 1993-2001. The sample includes some 370,000 residents randomly selected from the Dutch population. We control for individual background characteristics and fixed municipality characteristics. We find evidence that stricter law enforcement is effective in reducing disorder, fear of crime, violent crime and property crime. Concentrating visible police presence at 'hot spots' is effective in combating disorder, fear of crime, and property crime. As a result of proactive policing during the period 2003-2005, crime and disorder went down substantially. Fear of crime has been reduced as well.
Policing the Police: The Impact of "Pattern-or-Practice" Investigations on Crime
, and seminar participants at Chicago, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale for extremely helpful conversations and comments. Financial Support from the Smith Richardson Foundation and the Equality of Opportunity Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.