The first results of the “Policing European Metropolises project” (PEMP) that Elke Devroe launched in April 2013 are now published! The project focuses on plural policing in European metropolises with the main research question “To what extent is a local police still present in European metropolises and how is this reality linked with other actors in the security field”? In a first phase, PEMP analysed the cities of Rome, Paris, Porto, Barcelona, Sofia, Amsterdam, Cardiff, London, Berlin, Budapest, Helsinki and Ljubliana. Results show a basic distinction between tendencies toward convergence in the political-economy and divergence in the ways cities adapt to processes of global change. Convergence is seen in the way police constellations are organized. They are to a very large extent linked to policing history in a specific country and the political choices that were made. PEMP shows that who controls the police, also controls policy, and decides on important policing issues.

Secondly, private security has emerged in each city, though its presence differs dramatically (see upcoming seminar). PEMP shows divergence in the role of the Mayor. In general, the Mayor has the most elaborate authority when it comes to policing the metropolises. However, in two metropolises, this is not the case (Paris, Sofia). In both cases, the mayors have some say in administrative aspects, but not with regard to the police tasks and activities. PEMP shows strong divergent tendencies in Community Policing practices. In certain cases, Community Policing has been clearly abolished as policing strategy (e.g. Paris, since 2003). In other cases, COP is seen as an ultimate goal, that is to be accomplished, but is far off today (Sofia).

More results in:

The first outcome of the project is presented in the European Journal of Policing Studies with a contribution of Elke Devroe and Manol Petrov on Sofia and in “De Orde van de Dag”.Together with Prof. J.B. Terpstra, Elke Devroe edited a special Journal on plural policing and published the article “Purple vests. The origins of plural policing in Belgium”. In ‘Policing and Society’ Devroe published the article “Bringing politics back into the study of policing? A case study on the policing of social disorder in Belgium”.