Checks and balances in democratic control of public police. A case study of the Dutch national police after the reform

Bibliographic Data

ID21177528
AuthorsArie van Sluis (Erasmus University Rotterdam, corresponding author), Elke Devroe (0000-0002-6135-5193, Doctor in Criminology, Editor-in-chief of the Dutch Journal of Police Studies and Director of the Flemish Peace Institute, Brussels, Belgium)
Year2020
Volume21
Issue6
Pages670-686
Publication date2020-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolice Practice and Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1561-4263 • E-ISSN: 1477-271X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15614263.2019.1699410
OpenAlexW2992478705
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited23

This paper researches the quality of democratic control of the public police in a democratic society. Governance structures tend to be complex, reflecting that in democratic societies the police perform a wide range of tasks, both (inter) nationally and locally. Given the variety of police authorities and consultations at different levels, is there room for adequate democratic oversight? In this article, a theoretical frame on democratic control is drawn up which is applied on the recently established Dutch system of national police. Based on an extensive multi-method field research the authors conclude that the governance of the Dutch national police is not multi-level, that centralist influences are strong, that the mechanisms for vertical integration of local concerns in national policies are weak, and that there is a democratic deficit within the Dutch police system

Corporate governance · Criminal justice · Democracy · democratic deficit · Democratic governance · Democratic system · Economics · Management · Police science · Political science · Sociology · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration

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