First results 'Policing European Metropolises project' published!
The first results of the “Policing European Metropolises project” (PEMP) that associate Professor Elke Devroe and Professor P. Ponsaers launched in April 2013 are now published. Having been the referent for The Netherlands and Belgium in the Urbis project (Leonardo programme), the project focuses on plural policing in European metropolises.
Given the complexity of this comparative project and the problems of translating concepts and experiences across different cultures, this first phase has been inductive, seeking to build theoretical insight out of the empirical information and expertise about urban policing that is currently available. Drawing upon broader developments in the field of comparative urban studies generic tendencies will be identified that can be used to organise the comparative analysis of urban policing and facilitate a more meaningful translation of concepts and experiences. A basic distinction can be made between tendencies toward convergence in the political-economy of global and globalised cities and divergence in the ways urban authorities in particular cities adapt to processes of global change.
The first outcome of the project is presented in the European Journal of Policing Studieswith 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”.