By Fabien Jobard and René Lévy

French residents of immigrant origin, particularly those of North African and sub-Saharan African background, have long complained that police single them out for unfair, discriminatory, and unnecessary identity checks. If these perceptions are true, it means that French police are engaged in “ethnic profiling.” That is, police officers are basing decisions about who may be suspicious on the basis of the color of their skin or their assumed ethnic identity rather than on the basis of their individual behavior. In 2007, the Open Society Justice Initiative launched a study to examine whether and to what extent law enforcement officers stop individuals based on their appearance. This study was conducted in collaboration with Fabien Jobard and René Lévy, researchers with the National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in France. The study was carried out under the technical supervision of Lamberth Consulting. Examining five locations in and around the Gare du Nord and Châtelet-Les Halles rail stations, all important transit points in central Paris that are also the sites of heavy police activity, Profiling Minorities : A Study of Stop-and-Search Practices in Paris gathered data on police stops carried out by National Police and Customs officers, including information on the ethnicity, age, gender, clothing, and bags carried by the persons who were stopped. This study, which generated unique information on over 500 police stops, is the first to gather the quantitative data necessary to identify and detect patterns of ethnic profiling in France. The study confirmed that police stops and identity checks in Paris are principally based on the appearance of the person stopped, rather than on their behavior or actions. Persons perceived to be ethnic minorities were disproportionately stopped by the police. The results show that persons perceived to be “Black” (of sub-Saharan African or Caribbean origin) and “Arab” (of North African or Maghrebian origin) were stopped at proportionally much higher rates than persons perceived to be “White” (of Western European origin). Across the five observations sites, Blacks were overall six times more likely than Whites to be stopped by police ; the site-specific rates of disproportionality ranged from 3.3 to 11.5. Arabs were generally 7.6 times more likely than Whites to be stopped by the police, although again, the specific rate of disproportionality across the five locations ranged from 1.8 and 14.8. Follow-up interviews with the individuals who were stopped also suggest that these two groups regularly experience far more police stops than Whites.

New York: Open Society Institute, 2019. 82p.

By Fernando G. Cafferata. and Carlos Scartascini

Crime is a major problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. With 9 percent of the world's population, the region accounts for 33 percent of global homicides. Using new, extensive survey data, we endeavor to identify what anti-crime policies citizens in the region demand from their governments. We also analyze who is demanding what and why. We find that harsher penalties appear to be the preferred weapon in the anti-crime arsenal but people are willing to spend public moneys not only for punishment, but also for anti-poverty and detection policies. Citizens recognize that allocating resources to the police is better than subsidizing private security for citizens. Nevertheless, most oppose raising taxes to fund the police, a reluctance that might stem from mistrust in governments' ability to manage these resources. Mistrust, misinformation, and impatience combine to create flawed anti-crime policy. Educating citizens both about crime and about the fiscal consequences of their policy preferences may help move the region's public opinion toward a better policy equilibrium. Governments should also invest in their capability to design and deliver evidence-based solutions for fighting crime, and work to increase trust levels among citizens.

Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 2021. 68p.

By Meagan Cahill, Melissa M. Labriola, and Jirka Taylor

In this report, RAND Corporation researchers summarize what is currently known about killings committed by police officers in the United States and identify existing evidence about various ways to prevent these killings. A relatively large body of research on these topics exists, but these studies often suffer from methodological shortcomings, largely stemming from the dearth of available data. Recognizing the need for more-rigorous work to guide efforts to reform police — and, more specifically, to reduce police killings — the authors present work focused on the development of a research agenda, or a road map, to reduce police killings. The report, based on an extensive literature review as well as interviews with policing experts, contains a series of recommendations for areas in which research efforts may be most effective in helping inform policy-making and decision-making aimed at reducing police killings. The authors identified six focus areas — foundational issues (such as racial inequities, police culture, and police unions), data and reporting, training, policies, technology, and consequences for officers. Reviewing the priority research topics in each focus area, similar themes emerged, especially around the need for more-extensive and more-systematic data collection and around the use of agency policies to better govern a range of operations related to police violence, such as data collection and reporting and technology.

Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2021. 80p.

Edited by Sabelo Gumedze

This monograph on private security in Africa is the part-result of a two-year research project on the Regulation of the Private Security Sector in Africa. This report is based on three country case South Africa. In these countries private security companies are involved in a number of security-related operations. This research project was inspired by the need for Africa to engage in the debate around the manifestation of the private security sector on the continent, and to support its effective regulation through the establishment of a consistent and logical regulatory framework for national, sub-regional and regional legislation and protocols. Little research has been undertaken to inform a thorough understanding of the private security industry in Africa. To this end, the country reports provide insightful findings and are aimed at influencing policy making at national, sub-regional and regional level.

Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2008. 124p.

By Gareth Newham and Andrew Faull

Corruption remains a serious challenge to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the South African Police Service (SAPS). This monograph explores corruption in the SAPS prior to and after democratisation in 1994, contextualising the discussion with reference to international and domestic literature on the subject. It explores the causes of police corruption in the South African context and assesses the efforts taken by the SAPS in response to this challenge. Practical recommendations are made as to how the SAPS can significantly reduce incidents of police corruption by enhancing internal accountability, promoting a culture of organisational integrity and mobilising community support. Consolidating decades of research on the subject, this monograph represents the most comprehensive analysis of police corruption in South Africa to date. It also offers an approach that could assist in transforming the SAPS into a police agency that all South Africans want, one that is widely respected for its integrity and professionalism.

Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2011. 74p.

By David Bruce

What are the weapons used in the policing of protests and in prisons in South Africa? Focusing on less-lethal weapons (LLWs) this monograph provides an in-depth look at the weapons provided to prison warders and public order police. The monograph is based on documentary sources, press reports and interviews with DCS officials, JICS officials and others. The primary focus is on the period 2013–2018.

Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2019.

By Human Rights Watch

Police in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro have killed more than 8,000 people in the past decade, including at least 645 in 2015. Three quarters of those killed were black. Given that Rio police face real threats of violence from heavily-armed gangs, many of these killings were likely the result of the legitimate use of force. But many others were extrajudicial executions. “Good Cops Are Afraid” draws on interviews with more than 30 police officers—two of whom admitted to participating in executions—and in-depth documentation of 64 cases where there is credible evidence that police sought to cover up unlawful killings. Government data examined by Human RightsWatch supports the view of local justice officials that this practice is widespread. Unlawful police killings take a heavy toll—not only on the victims and their families—but also on the police force itself. The killings fuel cycles of violence that endanger the lives of all officers serving in high-crime areas, poison their relationship with local communities, and contribute to high levels of stress that undermine their ability to do their jobs well. The officers responsible for unlawful killings and cover ups are rarely brought to justice. While investigations by civil police have been woefully inadequate, responsibility for this failure ultimately lies with Rio’s Attorney General’s Office. Unless authorities take urgent steps to ensure accountability for unlawful police killings, it will be very hard for Rio to make real progress in reducing violence and improving public security.

New York: HRW, 2016. 118p.

By Henk Elffers, Marlijn Peeters, Jasper van der Kemp & Guillaume Beijers

In three neighborhoods in the city of Amstelveen, the Netherlands, an experiment with near repeat patrolling after a burglary was implemented, during the 4th quarter of 2011. After a burglary had been reported to the police, two uniformed police officers were patrolling in a radius of 250 meter during two days from 7 am-11 pm. Though the near repeat patrols did influence the near repeat pattern of burglary in the experimental areas, crime rates in the experimental areas did not become more favorable, compared to those in a control area in the same city. It is suggested that the experiment, though asking for a considerable amount of officers' time, was not large enough to be able to demonstrate positive effects, which then implies that effects are at best small, if not absent. The report is a short resumé in English of an earlier publication in Dutch.

Amsterdam: Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement NSCR , 2018. 9p.

By S.M. Ganpat

Why do certain incidents of serious violence end lethally whereas others do not? What role do personal characteristics of offenders and victims play and how do immediate situational factors influence outcomes? So far, these questions have not been subjected to much empirical scrutiny in criminological studies. This study, conducted in the Netherlands, seeks to answer these questions by explicitly comparing violent events that ended lethally with those that ended non-lethally. By taking into account offenders’ and victims' personal characteristics as well as immediate situational factors, it offers a more complete understanding of differences in outcome. It shows that immediate situational factors contribute more significantly to the outcome of violent incidents than generally thought. The study also presents an overview of murder and manslaughter in the Netherlands and puts these figures into international perspective. A separate chapter compares different types of violent events. The findings provide crucial criminological insights which may also guide efforts to reduce and prevent violent events from ending lethally in the future.

Leiden, Netherlands: Leiden University, 2014. 219p.

By Tore Bjørgo and Ingvild Magnæs Gjelsvik.

This report provides an overview of Norwegian research on radicalisation and violent extremism, with an emphasis on knowledge about processes leading towards radicalization, extremism and terrorism, and how such processes can be prevented and countered. The main objective has been to identify the studies which can provide the most relevant knowledge to those whose task it is to prevent radicalization and violent extremism. This summary will address research on right-wing extremism, left-wing extremism, militant Islamism and foreign fighters, and terrorism more in general. The report will also provide a brief overview of relevant research in Denmark and Sweden as well as pointing out some of the leading European centers of research in this field. A main purpose for this overview of research is to identify holes of knowledge – areas and topics where research-based knowledge is lacking or is outdated, and where there is a need for new research. PHS Forskning 2015: 2 (This is an abridged edition, translated into English)

Oslo: Center for Research on Extremism, The Extreme Right, Hate Crime and Political Violence, University of Oslo, 2015. 25p.40p.

By Yngve Carlsson

This paper discusses the role of the Norwegian municipalities in coping with Islamic extremism – compared to how they handled right wing extremism 15-20 years ago. The main questions are: What do the municipalities actually do to prevent radicalization into militant extreme Islam? What is it reasonable to expect that the municipalities can do to prevent such activity? Such questions are highly relevant given the central position of the municipalities in the Nordic welfare states as a provider of many of the welfare services1 , and the role they play in developing vital, attractive and safe communities. It is not surprising that local authorities are expected to deal with this issue. The main argument in this paper is that preventing radicalization into Islamic extremism, dismantling groups and reintegrating individual extremists into the local community through local action, is a far more complex and difficult process compared to how right-wing extremism was handled 15-20 years ago when such groups were active in some Norwegian local communities. It is the intention of this paper to show the complexity of this issue and present some of the challenges and dilemmas that the municipalities have to face. Unless this complexity is understood, it may be difficult to find strategies and measures that can reduce the problem. It is unrealistic to believe that this problem can be completely prevented – at least by actors at the local community level.

Oslo: Center for Research on Extremism, The Extreme Right, Hate Crime and Political Violence, University of Oslo

Edited by Atsushi Yasutomi, Rosalie Arcala Hall, and Saya Kiba

An exploration of the roles that pro- and anti-government militias, private armed groups, vigilantes, and gangs play in local communities in the new democracies of Southeast Asia. Scholars have typically characterized irregular forces as spoilers and infiltrators in post-conflict peacebuilding processes. The contributors to this book challenge this conventional understanding of irregular forces in Southeast Asia, demonstrating that they often attract solid support from civilians and can be major contributors to the building of local security — a process by which local residents, in the absence of an effective police force, develop, partner or are at least included in the management of community crimes and other violence. They analyze irregular forces’ dealings with political actors at the community level, explaining why and how forces are incorporated in and collaborate with legitimate institutions without using violence against them. Offering a new approach to dealing with irregular forces in Southeast Asia, contributors explore new theoretical frameworks that are better suited for evaluating irregular forces’ relationship to different security providers and the political environments in the region. Specifically, they examine case studies from Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, and Thailand. A valuable resource for researchers, students and practitioners in the areas of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and security governance, especially those with a focus on Southeast Asia. This book will also be of great interest to scholars of the sociology and anthropology of the region.

Abington, Oxon, UK: New York: Routledge, 2022. 215p.

Edited by Millan, Matteo and Alessandro Saluppo

This book provides a comparative and transnational examination of the complex and multifaceted experiences of anti-labour mobilisation, from the bitter social conflicts of the pre-war period, through the epochal tremors of war and revolution, and the violent spasms of the 1920s and 1930s. It retraces the formation of an extensive market for corporate policing, privately contracted security and yellow unionism, as well as processes of professionalisation in strikebreaking activities, labour espionage and surveillance. It reconstructs the diverse spectrum of right-wing patriotic leagues and vigilante corps which, in support or in competition with law enforcement agencies, sought to counter the dual dangers of industrial militancy and revolutionary situations. Although considerable research has been done on the rise of socialist parties and trade unions the repressive policies of their opponents have been generally left unexamined. This book fills this gap by reconstructing the methods and strategies used by state authorities and employers to counter outbreaks of labour militancy on a global scale. It adopts a long-term chronology that sheds light on the shocks and strains that marked industrial societies during their turbulent transition into mass politics from the bitter social conflicts of the pre-war period, through the epochal tremors of war and revolution, and the violent spasms of the 1920s and 1930s. Offering a new angle of vision to examine the violent transition to mass politics in industrial societies, this is of great interest to scholars of policing, unionism and striking in the modern era.

Abingdon, Oxon. UK; New York: Routledge, 2021. 299p.

Edited by Atsushi Yasutomi, Rosalie Arcala Hall and Saya Kiba

An exploration of the roles that pro- and anti-government militias, private armed groups, vigilantes, and gangs play in local communities in the new democracies of Southeast Asia. Scholars have typically characterized irregular forces as spoilers and infiltrators in post-conflict peacebuilding processes. The contributors to this book challenge this conventional understanding of irregular forces in Southeast Asia, demonstrating that they often attract solid support from civilians and can be major contributors to the building of local security — a process by which local residents, in the absence of an effective police force, develop, partner or are at least included in the management of community crimes and other violence. They analyze irregular forces’ dealings with political actors at the community level, explaining why and how forces are incorporated in and collaborate with legitimate institutions without using violence against them. Offering a new approach to dealing with irregular forces in Southeast Asia, contributors explore new theoretical frameworks that are better suited for evaluating irregular forces’ relationship to different security providers and the political environments in the region. Specifically, they examine case studies from Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, and Thailand. A valuable resource for researchers, students and practitioners in the areas of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and security governance, especially those with a focus on Southeast Asia. This book will also be of great interest to scholars of the sociology and anthropology of the region.

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York: Routledge, 2022. 215p.

By Erica Marat

In most Soviet successor states, the police militia are among the least trusted government agencies. The police are frequently seen as representatives of the state who are allowed to persecute ordinary citizens, extort bribes, and protect the real criminals. This leads to cycles of mutual antagonism in which society does not expect the police to perform their function properly, and the police are unable to enforce state regulation of society. In the examples of Georgia and Kyrgyzstan in this monograph, Dr. Erica Marat examines which domestic processes will likely fail and which have a chance to succeed in changing the post- Soviet police from a punitive institution into a more democratic entity. Dr. Marat demonstrates that the fundamental element of police reform in the post-Soviet context must be a redefinition of what constitutes the legitimate use of violence against civilians to maintain order in everyday life and during mass protests. It means toning down the use of forceful methods against the unruly and redefining which crimes must be prosecuted. In the course of the reform, the government must relinquish its ability to control the thoughts and actions of opponents and the people. Instead of being used as a punitive instrument of oppression, the postauthoritarian police must learn to behave in a transparent, accountable way, by respecting the rights of citizens. Importantly, new venues and forms of interaction between society and the police should emerge, while a country's chief police agency should become responsive to the concerns of the public. The police must begin to work on behalf of the public, not the regime, and to obey the rule of law, not government orders. Essentially, democratic police reform in the post-Soviet or any context means entrusting the citizenry to police the police

Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College,Strategic Studies Institute, 2013. 74p.

By Zoorob, Michael

Under what conditions can citizens hold government officials accountable for their behavior? I examine accountability over the police, a pervasive face of the state as experienced by most people. Like elected politicians, police enjoy significant discretion, limited oversight, power, and corruptibility. Continued problems of police violence and disparate treatment, especially against Black Americans, have shown the importance of accountable policing.

Using calls for service records, election returns, survey data, and case studies, I explore challenges of political accountability across the highly varied 18,000 police department in the United States. The police are both a nationally salient social group – evaluated differently by partisans in a national media environment – as well as a locally-provided government function that tens of millions of Americans encounter regularly. This decentralization complicates improvements to policing policies by limiting the impacts of reform activism to particular cities and by misaligning activism with local conditions.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2021. 207p.

By William I. Tchakirides

This dissertation uncovers the roots of discriminatory police power in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and traces Black-led efforts to make the city’s police bureaucracy more accountable to all citizens. It analyzes the politics of police reform in the century spanning the passage of two state laws that reconfigured Milwaukee’s law enforcement arrangements. The first (1885) removed City Hall’s managerial control over the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD). Corporate elites and social reformers fearful of rising working-class power and moral degeneration in the immigrant-industrial city lobbied for the statute’s enactment. The second (1984) reversed course, re-empowering nonpolice officials after decades of Black-led campaigns for diverse input, representation, and oversight within Milwaukee’s white-controlled police bureaucracy. While the 1885 law created a civil service commission to regulate public safety hiring free of political machine influence, it also gave exclusive accountability to property-holders and shielded department heads from external supervision— provisions later targeted by activists. A revision (1911) clarified the power of the city’s public safety chiefs, granting them indefinite tenure, policymaking authority, and institutional autonomy. In turn, the MPD fostered an outwardly exceptional status at the height of policing’s “reform era” (1920s-1950s). This apparent exceptionalism, marked by a value-neutral self-image, was established around administrative innovations and crime control efficiencies heralded by national policing experts. It was a dynamic that broadly served white middle-class and corporate interests, as...

Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, 2020. 517p.

By Nora C. Krinitsky

“The Politics of Crime Control: Race, Policing, and Reform in Twentieth-Century Chicago” is a political history of urban policing that examines the integral role of crime control in the governance of modern American cities. It does so through a case study of policing and reform in Chicago from the interwar decades through the post-World War II years, a period that saw massive changes including African American migration, immigration, industrialization, and labor unrest. Crime control served as the central political proxy through which city leaders, reformers, and law enforcement officers attempted to achieve urban order, and in so doing, constructed modern social and racial hierarchies. These officials and reformers contributed to the construction of the coercive state, a state apparatus that prioritized social order as the primary mode through which to express state legitimacy and exercise state power. In the context of early-twentieth-century Chicago, coercive state strategies worked in tandem with Progressive reformers and anti-crime activists to establish and reinforce spatial boundaries and to reify and redefine social hierarchies. Local police discretion represented the primary coercive state tool for addressing urban disorder, as well as one of the most intransigent and opaque modes of state power, especially in the service of defining and reinforcing racial hierarchy. The immediate, discretionary interactions between police and city residents served as one of the primary sites of racial formation in these decades, and elicited investigation, critique, and proposals for reform from myriad urban communities, other state institutions, and municipal reform organizations. Policing, therefore, represented the very intersection of coercive state power, municipal politics, racialization, and efforts for reform.

Ann Arbor, University of Michigan,2017. 409p.

By Roberts, T.; Mohamed Ali, A.; Farahat, M.; Oloyede, R. and Mutung’u, G..

This review provides the first comparative analysis of African legal surveillance frameworks. The study identifies nine core principles derived from existing guidelines as an analytical framework to identify opportunities to strengthen privacy protection, while narrowly targeting surveillance on the most serious crimes. Six detailed country reports are synthesised in this comparative analysis to produce a series of actionable recommendations for policy, practice and further research

Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2021. 203p.

By Lind, J.; Mitchell, B. and Rohwerder, B.

This Evidence Report details key insights from the Institute of Development Studies Addressing and Mitigating Violence programme, which involved detailed political analysis of dynamics of violence as well as efforts to reduce and prevent violent conflict across a number of countries and areas in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. In particular, the evidence highlighted here is from violent settings that do not neatly fit categories of ‘war’ or ‘peace’. The findings of these studies, published as a series of open-access reports, Policy Briefings and blogs, were discussed by conflict and security experts as well as thinkers from aid and advocacy organisations at a consultative session in London in November 2015. This report uses evidence from the programme to critically reflect on policy and programming policy approaches for reducing violence. Specifically, it provides a synthesis of findings around these themes: (1) the nature of violence and how it might be changing; (2) the connectivity of actors across levels and space; and (3) the significance of identities and vulnerabilities for understanding and responding to violence. The report concludes by examining the implications of the research for the violence reduction paradigm.

Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies. 2016. 33p.