British Journal of Criminology Advance Access originally published online on September 10, 2008
British Journal of Criminology 2008 48(6):778-797; doi:10.1093/bjc/azn064
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The British Journal of Criminology 48:778-797 (2008)
© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD). All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Diversifying from within
Community Policing and the Governance of Security in Northern Ireland
* Room 21C13, School of Policy Studies/Social and Policy Research Institute, University of Ulster, Jordanstown, Co. Antrim BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland; Topping-j3{at}ulster.ac.uk.
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Abstract |
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The subtle and complex nature of Northern Ireland's transitional landscape presents acute difficulties for the community policing concept. As the core to the police reforms in the country, its implementation has faltered in the face of institutional inertia within the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). This has been further exacerbated by a failure of the police to adequately increase the co-production of security through improved engagement and utilization of Northern Ireland's diverse community infrastructures. This paper will assess the delivery of community policing by the PSNI, while exploring their engagement with Northern Ireland's grass-roots community organizations, and specifically those involved with the governance of security at the local level. Thus, through a framework of adaptation, engagement and delivery of community policing by the PSNI within the unique context of Northern Ireland's security ‘otherness’, the paper will explore the key issues to police–community interaction associated with the broader vision of the Independent Commission on Policing (ICP) on community policing.