A First Line of Defence? Vigilant surveillance, participatory policing and the reporting of ‘suspicious’ activity

Abstract

What is at stake when citizens are encouraged to deploy vigilant surveillance and report what they consider to be unusual and "suspicious" activity? This article explores the current role of vigilance in contemporary Western security practices aimed at battling terrorist acts and major crime. It does so by critically analysing official constructions of suspiciousness, the responsibilisation process of participatory policing, and the assignments of prejudiced amateur detectives. It concludes, firstly, that the agency offered by political campaigns such as "If You See Something, Say Something" is highly illusive since the act of reporting simply demarcates where participation ends, and where fear and paranoia are turned into legitimate intelligence, enabling the state to exercise authoritative action and preemptive violence. Secondly, these kinds of vigilance initiatives also nurture a normalisation of suspicion towards strangers since the encouragements to be aware of anything-and-anyone deemed "out of the ordinary", as well as the tools for reporting such suspicions, increasingly creep into the mundane realms of everyday life.

When Citizens Are “Actually Doing Police Work”: The Blurring of Boundaries in WhatsApp Neighbourhood Crime Prevention Groups in The Netherlands

“…As suggested by Larsson (2017), participatory policing entails citizens actively assisting law enforcement by engaging in monitoring, information-sharing, reporting, and preventative actions. The emergence of participatory policing highlights a transition in policing methods.…”

“…These local participatory policing projects are based on proactive cooperation between citizens and community police (Walker and Walker 1990). In contrast, nationwide public vigilance campaigns have a top-down structure, whereby law enforcement requests participatory policing in the form of being aware of particular signs of threats and criminal or terrorist activity (Larsson 2017). Subsequently, citizens are asked to share their suspicions via "antiterrorist hotlines," online reporting forms, text messaging services, and smartphone applications (Larsson 2017 These public participatory surveillance campaigns "involve the many watching the many on behalf of the few" (Larsen and Piché 2010: 196).…”

“…Increasingly, forms of participatory policing have become predicated on the use of new technologies, as suggested by Larsson (2017). Whether this involves the use of the telephones to call emergency numbers, the use of online reporting forms, or the more recent use of specific apps, technology has become a crucial component in the modern variations of both the "see something, say something" campaigns as well as in WNCP groups.…”

“…In the process, citizens become surveillance agents whose distrust towards strangers and suspicion and ambivalence amongst neighbours is increasingly perpetuated (Larsen and Piché 2010; Larsson 2017; Reeves 2012). A specific way of life is normalised, in which unwanted persons can be identified and specific appearances and behaviours will be seen as suspicious (Larsson 2017).…”

Vigilant subjects

“…How does Prevent duty inform vigilance? Rather than exploring Prevent duty through pre-emptive police intervention (Innes et al, 2017; Monaghan and Molnar, 2016), attention turns to how ordinary subjects are encouraged to be vigilant in their everyday, professional lives (Larsson, 2016: 94). This analysis begins with a bio-political subject: an emergent individual co-evolving with uncertainty.…”