Policing within the EU: Social Control at what cost?

Policing within the EU: Social Control at what cost?

Prof. John [email protected]

Director: Centre for Criminology and Justice ResearchAdjunct Prof: St Thomas Un., and Polytechnic of Namibia

With assistance from: Ms. Crystal HincksDate/Location: October 22 – 23, 2010

University of Luxembourg

Centre for Criminology and Justice Research

Overview“it is better to prevent crimes than to punish them” C. Beccaria (1763:93)

• Qualifiers• Crime as a social construct• Crime control• Models of policing• Pluralization of policing• Policing in post 9-11• Summary

2Centre for Criminology and Justice Research

Qualifier

• Social scientist– Evidence based dec-making

• Critical realist

• Capacity over more order


Crime as a Social Construct• Two fundamental guiding principles to a harmonious society:

– “Do all you say you agree to do”– “Do not encroach on other persons or their property”

• Natural law vs. political law• Past:

– Domain of cannon law or civil law (esp. laws of tort)


Crime Control ‘war against terror taking toll on human rights’ – P. Delean ‘10

• Utilitarian vs. vested interest groups• “contrology” J. Ditton

• Crime rates• Financial burden• Erosion of community support• Need for ‘more order’• Forced compliance doesn’t work!


Crime Control Cont.

• Not serve as defenders of the State but as guardians of human rights– research: biased and discretionary enforcement (official

statistics) Quinney ‘86

– Social injury (e.g., human rights violations, imperialism, sexism, racism, poverty, state terrorism) DeKeserdy et al. ’05

– Transnational policing in the EU – justified and legitimated• Form of deviance• Control…subjective and/or political manipulation Braithwaite ’89

• “abolitionism” K. Stenson ‘95


MODELS OF POLICING• Traditional Model- order/maintenance role; policing was informal and

based on conflict resolution; minimal interaction with community: a ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ approach – NO crime prevention…. <15% dealing with crime! (Sewell ‘85)

• Problem Solving Police: Proactive – crime prevention… detectives, investigation, geographic profile, etc. Three Rs: random patrol, reactive investigation, rapid response; SARA (Scan, Analyze, Response, and Assessment) vs. CAPRA (Client, Acquire, Partnerships, Response, and Assessment).

• Community Oriented Policing: Highly interactive with community ; 3 Ps of community policing: public involvement, problem solving, and prevention of crime.

Barlow & Barlow, 2009


Productivity of the Police:Suspects per 100 Police Officers

Finland 2692 Isreal 360

USA 2260 Macedonia, FYR 353

Canada 1043 Slovenia 332

Germany 872 Slovakia 251

Netherlands 845 Italy 249

Greece 769 Estonia 225

Austria 684 Rep. of Moldova 201

Norway 684 Croatia 173

England & Wales

558 Cyprus 137

Portugal 475 Lithuania 132

Hungary 415 Ukraine 122

Poland 404 Spain 102

Romania 404 Latvia 100

France 385 Kazakhstan 82

Sweden 371 Russia 79

Ireland 366 Armenia 53 8

Citizen Evaluation of Police Performance

1st QuartilePoor Evaluation

Kazakhstan, Russia, Georgia,Latvia, Romania, Ukraine,Estonia, Belarus, Lithuania

3rd QuartileMedium Evaluation

Spain, Macedonia, Slovakia, Malta, Slovenia, Finland,

Belgium, Switzerland

4th QuartileHigh Evaluation

France, Ireland, Netherlands,Sweden, England and Wales,

Denmark, Canada, USA,Scotland

2nd QuartileMedium Evaluation

Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Czech. Rep.,

Italy, Portugal, Austria, Albania


• Relative efficiency:– Crime prevention– Crime control– Conflict resolution– General services – traffic, PR with public…– Police administration – integrity, leadership– ? Productivity (complex and complicated)– Criminal investigation (12 city study) “left much to

be desired”! (Sewell ‘92)


PLURALIZATION OF POLICING• Governments no longer have a monopoly on policing (“high

policing”)• Private security and consulting companies are growing at 2-3x the

rate of police forces (“low policing” Brodeur ‘83)• Increase in citizen policing, special constables, peace officers,

auxiliaries, and crime prevention agencies have reduced the need for more sworn officers

• Growth of civilian positions have surpassed officers 2:1– 1 civilian member for every 2.5 officers

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CANADA GERMANY FINLAND UNITED STATES

POPULATION 33,487,208 82,110,097 5,250,275 307,212,123

# OF POLICE OFFICERS

62,461 250,284 8,312 683,396

RATIO OF POLICE TO CITIZENS

1.914 : 1,000 3.035 : 1,000 1.579 : 1,000 2.236 : 1,000

POLICING BUDGET

EUR 7 billion

EUR 362 million

EUR 576.60 million

EUR 70 billion

POLICE MODEL Community Paramilitary Community Community

Crime RatePer 100,000

8,317.24 7,628.46 9,825.43 3,764.78

PROFILE OF COUNTRIES for 2006

Source: UNODC (2007)


Belief in Police Efficiency

87% 89%

70% 67%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

Canada USA Finland Germany


Percentage of people who reported paying brides (2006-2009), by service

‘09 Global Corruption Barometer

police judiciary educational services

medical services

tax revenue0

5

10

15

20

25

20092006

Centre for Criminology and Justice Research 14

Hi-lites for reform• Does low enforcement work?

– Do they provide value for our taxes? (Waller ‘09)– When police strike – predatory crimes increase (robbery/assaults)– Clinton admin 20% increase in policing! Impact…none

• More police, more professionalism, more power, more… is NOT better– 65% respond to 911 calls!– Investigation 20%... $13B annually– Problem oriented policing …. Shows promise and crime prevention through social

development

• Refocus on risk factors and protective factors• Shift 3-5% of LE budget to prevention (risk factors) and victim support• !! US Gallup Pools show since 1990…public favors ‘education and jobs’

over ‘police and prisons’


POLICING IN POST 9-11 TIMES

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• Terrorist attacks are both acts of war and also crimes

• Prevention of the next terrorist attack is priority number one for governments• Stopping large scale attacks are the public safety

imperative, even if it means risking the individuals that police typically serve

• Advocates of stronger immigration laws are crying for local police to become involved in enforcing immigration law• Police do not want this role• Would result in a major setback in the progress of

community policing over the past two decades• Police would wind up on the wrong side of the

immigrant communities would be a mistake


Police would require greater power and authority– That power, meant to be used for investigating and

stopping terrorism, would be used in investigations of other crimes.

– This power comes attached to the expectation that it will also be used to police immigration

– One concern is the need for more manpower and resources

– Slippery slope of human rights– UK law school study


Costs of Crime Fighting in Canada• Direct cost of the CJS- EUR 20 billion

– Includes policing, courts, corrections– 2x more than unemployment– 3x more than childcare– 2x more than seniors pensions– Tax-payers 7X more to achieve 10% reduction vs. SD

• Indirect cost of the CJS- EUR 25 billion– Costs incurred by victims; insurance, replacement, medical system,

lawyers, lost wages

Is it more cost effective to prevent crime and/or investigate?


http://ww4.ps-sp.gc.ca/en/library/publications/fact_sheets/cpsd/index/html

Offending and Victimization is Predictable for Groups (not individuals)

• 5% of youth account for 55% of offences– The 5% experience more risk factors- poverty,

ineffective parenting, dropping out of school• 4% of victims account for 44% of victimization

– The 4% lead life routines that increase risk, such as not guarding goods, vulnerable to opportunity, close to offenders

• “Hot Spot” locations exist for drugs and other offences– “Hot Spots” concentrate offenders and victims

geographicallyCentre for Criminology and Justice

Research 19Source: Waller, 2003

Summary“we are sadly not close to solving the global problems of unsafety” B. Holtmann ‘10

• Focus not on just reducing crime rates/investigation• Improve quality of life/community capacity

– Build trust between pop. and CJS– Protective factors promote +ve alternate life-choices

• Prevention polices…’backseat’ to public safety policies– ‘02 UN Guidelines for CP

• Social, economic, health & educational development• Locally based CP• Situational• Reduction of recidivism

• SROI…$1 prevention savings up to $10 intervention!


Thank You/Merci/[email protected]


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Policing within the EU: Social Control at what cost?