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EUROPEAN POLICE SCIENCE AND RESEARCH BULLETIN SPECIAL CONFERENCE EDITION • In differentiation to the approaches and conclusions taken in the two previous mentioned papers, Juha Kääriäinen from the Finnish University Police College, has doubts that reported variations regarding the trust in policing in a number of surveyed countries can be attributed to the level of perceived efficiency and fairness of police actions. He considers that the differences in trust in the police might be triggered rather by more broader factors like the spenditure for police resources in relation to overall welfarespending within a society. Although all papers are relating to different samples, chosen methods and reference countries, their outcomes underpin that measuring the level of trust in the police, can be a strong indicator of how the performance and status of the police as an institution or force is seen and experienced in a general climate of financial and economic constraints, which in certain places and circumstances could undermine the state’s role as a warrantor of security and social peace. There is one area in contemporary society, which has seen unrelenting growth and influence on the social fabric, regardless of any financial, economic or political crisis: the rise of the digital sphere and the emergence of a new dimension of public exchange. Cyber and virtual have become integral elements of modern life and various branches of the police apparatus are beginning to feel the full weight of its impact on their work and work environment. Nick Keane, Digital Engagement Advisor of the College of Policing in the UK, and among the first to be aware of the change, social media are bringing towards the police officers’ job, gives an account of how the likes of Facebook and Twitter conquered the cunning police officers mind, and where future research could help in better understanding and mastering the 21th century’s preferred communication tools of the masses. A pressing need for more research, both on the impact of how police organisations are functioning, as well as on communications with the public is the outcome of Jeremy Crump’s paper on social media research and policing. He identifies three particular areas where more research has to be done: Big Data, analysis of online networks and the impact of social media on police (work) culture. Speaking of new territories, difference in culture and changing modes of cooperation – but in a comparative sense: Saskia Hufnagel provided a paper in one of the open sessions, comparing practices and perceptions of police cooperation among practitioners and officials between Australia (as a federal state system with independent forces) and the European Union. Her most striking finding: cooperation in the EU generates more enthusiasm in comparison – maybe it is because it is still considered international business and thus more exciting. Any attempt to assert a clear logical leitmotif running through the sequence of papers presented here, would not stand close scrutiny. Nevertheless, there is a shared perspective taken in the rest of the papers, which invites clustering them: ideas and visions on what could and should be done to alleviate the ramifications of the financial and economic crisis affecting individual police officers, diverse police organisations or entire policing systems. Gloria Laycock (UK) promotes a paradigmatic shift towards “crime science”, which aims at reducing crime either by preventing it from happening in the first place or at catching offenders more quickly post crime. Empirical analysis of objectified data and preventive design measures are the pillars of her model offering. Thus being a systemic approach to answer any crisis triggered by economic constraints for traditional policing models, the applied scientific rationality is in clear contrast to the one suggested by Sheptycki and Bowling. Comparing approaches sideby-side, it becomes instantly clear that there is not such a thing as ‚one science’, but various, occasionally competing, approaches to analysis of a complex phenomenon like crime and the policing of it. However, at closer scrutiny connecting intellectual undercurrents become apparent: policing in our hypermodern times cannot improve without resorting for taking (more) time to analyse and reflect. Based on his long experience with police training and education on national, international and European level, János Fehérváry’s paper tackles the impacts of austerity policies on the perspectives for law enforcement head on. Listing the various areas of cut-backs, he delivers a detailed break down of the actual and potential practical consequences. While he finds that doing more in quality training with less politically admitted resources is clearly often deemed to be a mission impossible, he 6
EUROPEAN POLICE SCIENCE AND RESEARCH BULLETIN SPECIAL CONFERENCE EDITION nevertheless considers the attached challenges and risks of the situation. In consequence he calls for a research initative how quality police training and education for the police could be salvaged in times of constant austerity. One example what could be done on an internationally aggregated level is what Barbara Rohmann describes UNICRI has developed and achieved in regard to providing support and training for the security planning of major public events. That police work is a stressful occupation, is often taken for granted. It is also unlikely that austerity measures will reduce stress-levels for individual officers. In view of this situation, Marianne Kaiseler, Christina Queirós and Susana Rodrigues offer an innovative method to measure occupational stress levels among officers in a comparative international approach. Marisa Silvestri examines the outlook of women’s careers in policing under the prefix of organisational and political austerity measures. Although she recognises a cultural change of policing philosophies and strategies affiliated with the rise of numbers in female officers, she is less optimistic that this tendency will continue in times of severe economic constraints in public expenditure. When it is all about change management – what is possible in police organisations, which have a general reputation to be aversive to change? Finding out about effective change management on a European level – that is the exact topic of a paper by Natalie Hirschmann and Jochen Christe- Zeyse, describing in a nutshell the structure and findings of the comparative Composite project. Among other relevant preliminary outcomes and conclusions of this cross-European project the most striking one is that police cultures and practices are not the same anywhere, thus a serious caution is put on the “best-practice-to-be-copied”-approach. CONCLUDING NOTE The papers collected in this special conference edition of the European Police Science and Research Bulletin are a selective, but authentic representation of the wealth of information and science- based insights that were exchanged among the participants on the days of the conference in Münster. The conference discourse was certainly dynamic, during the sessions and continuing in the coffee breaks and meals, when reactions to the presentations were traded among attending police officers, academic scholars and police educators. One of course could have expected a multiplicity of standpoints and perspectives, when experts and participants from more than two dozen countries in Europe and from overseas are invited to consider and to discuss a complex issue like “policing civil societies in times of economic constraints”. When talking about contemporary crisis-situations, it will always be very difficult to ascertain, if the crisis is already past its peak and will be over soon, or if it is going to get worse, before it becomes better. In any case, it is a feature of hypermodern societies, that the search for solutions and remedies will not stop – but there will certainly be no lasting results before a thorough and adequate analysis has taken place. This is the role of scientific research. While the conference contributions were strong on analysis, there were also plenty of research-based and science-inspired hints and directions, where policing and related training and education for it shall go next. A satisfactory conference experience for some is to leave with new answers and inspired ideas – for others it is to go home with new and challenging questions. The conference organisers and editors of this volume trust that the 2013 CEPOL Annual European Police Research and Science <strong>Conference</strong> delivered to both ends. Finally the editors would like to remind the readers that the presentation files and video recordings of even more speakers and contributions are available from the public CEPOL website and the CEPOL eNet for registered users. With the publication of the conference content, sharing it with a wider interested public, the European Police College and its network partners in the EU member states underpin their commitment to facilitate the further development of police science in Europe and by that fostering good policing to all citizens. 7
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