Policing for democracy or democratically responsive policing? Examining the limits of externally driven police reform

Aitchison, Andy; Blaustein, Jarrett

doi:10.1177/1477370812470780

Cited by 24 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The unexpected negative relationship between the size of the urban population and all three property crimes could be a sign of “responsive securitization”, where the increase of potential targets in urban areas is offset by increases in public and private security measures (Aitchison and Blaustein, 2013; Van Dijk, 2008; Van Kesteren et al, 2014). While there has been some support for this theory from the ICVS, that survey does not provide adequate information for this sample of countries to directly test this potential explanation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of political and economic changes on macro-level property crime variation: The case of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe

Stamatel

2016

Criminology & Criminal Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The goal of this article was to assess the extent to which major changes in the political and economic systems of Central and Eastern European countries after the fall of communism contributed to variations in property crime rates, controlling for other structural predictors. Data for 17 countries from 1990-2003 were collected for three types of property crimes: total theft; motor vehicle theft; and domestic burglary. Traditional predictors derived from modernization and routine activities theories produced inconsistent results, but political and economic changes due to the post-communist transformations were significant predictors of property crime variation. Economic changes toward liberalization, marketization, and privatization were strongly, positively related to higher property crime rates across all three types. Political changes toward democratization were only positively related to higher domestic burglary rates. The control variables were weak and inconsistent predictors of all three property crimes. The article discusses some of the implications of these findings for updating macro-level crime theories.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of political and economic changes on macro-level property crime variation: The case of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe

Stamatel

2016

Criminology & Criminal Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, why would one country provide assistance to police forces in another? Among the few studies that examine such a question (Aitchison 2007;Aitchison and Blaustein 2013;Isacson and Ball 2006;Marenin 1998), work by Huggins (1998) provides key insight into the Latin American context. By focusing on struggles over power, political influence and control of economic markets, Huggins (1998) examined the US-Brazil relationship during the Cold War, revealing the perverse outcomes of US international police assistance that included, among several factors, the development of police death squads in Brazil.…”

Section: A Southern Criminology Of Violence In Brazil: Considering Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics of Crime and Militarised Policing in Brazil

Cavalcanti

Garmany

2020

Int J for Crime, Justice & Social Democracy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article queries the effects of international police assistance in the Global South, focusing specifically on Brazil. Utilising recently declassified documents accessed in Washington, DC, this article shows how United States officials sought to intervene in Latin American politics through international police assistance to Brazil during the 1960s–1980s. The article considers the geopolitical motivations behind these programs and highlights the connections between international police assistance, weak democratic institutions in Latin America and legacies of authoritarian policing in the region. The academic objectives are twofold: to foreground debates that emphasise the need for Southern Criminological research perspectives and to explore the broader effects of international police assistance programs in the Global South. By drawing attention to these issues, the article contributes to studies of policing, politics and public security in contexts like Brazil, where extreme levels of everyday violence are a threat to democracy and human rights.

show abstract

“…It is part of a long standing set of policing principles that have endured for almost two hundred years (Rogers 2013). They are increasingly articulated today in democratic terms (Aitchison and Blaustein 2013;Reiner 2013) but it is important to note that they originate and make more sense from a liberal perspective.…”

Section: Policing Was Liberal Before It Was Democraticmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of liberal values within policing: police and crime commissioners, police independence and the spectre of illiberal democracy

Wood

2014

Policing and Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) in England and Wales has reignited discussions about police governance. This paper contributes to these debates by focusing on the role liberal values play within liberal democratic ideals of policing. It suggests, policing principles historically have been informed primarily by liberal goals; that is to say these principles are liberal before they are democratic. Policing in England and Wales today, however, is increasingly informed by democratic values at the expense of liberal principles.The spectre of illiberal democracy is considered here as a warning in light of this development. The paper argues that there is a growing disparity between the rhetoric of liberal policing principles, historically rooted in pre-democratic times, and the reality of contemporary policing in societies that are increasingly sensitive to democratic expectations. Police independence is used to illustrate this argument. Police independence is still revered in rhetoric today, but the liberal origin of this concept is not recognised. But the idea that the police should retain a degree of freedom from political interference makes sense from a liberal perspective, one that is increasingly difficult to defend as liberal values decline in importance, and democratic aspirations come to the fore. The paper concludes by suggesting that liberal values are, on the one hand, increasingly difficult to accommodate within contemporary ideas of policing, but are at the same time becoming more necessary, especially following the introduction of PCCs.

show abstract

Policing for democracy or democratically responsive policing? Examining the limits of externally driven police reform

Cited by 24 publications

References 36 publications

The influence of political and economic changes on macro-level property crime variation: The case of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe

The influence of political and economic changes on macro-level property crime variation: The case of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe

The Politics of Crime and Militarised Policing in Brazil

The importance of liberal values within policing: police and crime commissioners, police independence and the spectre of illiberal democracy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About