PurposeThe purpose of this article is to present the findings of research into the impact of a new performance system for the police in The Netherlands.Design/methodology/approachFor this research, the international literature about the effects and side effects of performance steering in the public sector was scanned and more than 150 local stakeholders in five Dutch police regions were interviewed in semi‐open interviews, using a checklist. The study analyzed the specific impact of the results‐based agreements in various branches.FindingsOn the whole, the police do not get isolated as a consequence of the results‐based agreements and they do not disassociate themselves from the societal networks they participated in before. The authors offer several explanations why many of the expected negative effects have not occurred.Originality/valueValuable in this article is the focus on the situational context and the implementation context for an adequate assessment of the significance of performance‐based steering of the police in practice. It gives an update of the Dutch state of affairs and recommends another starting point for police performance measurement in the near future.

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Both in Public Administration and in practice, there is a loss of the concept of public. A view became dominant in which markets were superior to governments and public to private. Not only did the esteem of the public sphere diminish, but also its significance in our reasoning and teaching. It became less clear what the public sphere stood for. In this contribution, renewed attention for the concept and for related concepts like public interest and public values is asked for. Attention for these concepts should stimulate the reflection of our students on the relevance of the publicness of public administration, the relevance of the public sphere, the discussions about these subjects and of the study they follow. We should do so because this theme is crucial for our discipline and what it can deliver in education.