PLURAL POLICING

Plural Policing

Why has plural policing expanded in recent years and what are the consequences of pluralisation for the public police?

Introduction

Plural policing' refers simultaneously to the growing mix of public, parochial and private forms of policing and to a shift in the focus of policing studies away from a preoccupation with the professional, state police towards a broader concern with social regulation, law enforcement and order maintenance conducted by a plethora of formal and informal actors and systems of control. It is both a new way of looking at policing, which is no longer police centred, and a new set of things to look at - namely, the growing role of the non-state sector. Conceptually, policing got unshackled from its association with what the police alone do. The state-centred thinking that dominated social sciences typically blinded policing research from understanding the governing capacities of diverse forms of extra-state regulation.

Discussion

There is growing recognition that the police are only a small element in society's total policing endeavours; and acknowledgement that new providers and authorizers of security have emerged. Contributing to this reorientation of policing studies, Johnston and Shearing have articulated an approach that proceeds from the theme of 'security governance', defined as 'the property of networks rather than as the product of any single centre of action'. They deliberately accord no conceptual priority to the state in order to highlight the range of governmental intersections that exist and the relationships between them. The precise nature of policing arrangements and the role of various contributors are matters for empirical inquiry. Importantly, this perspective challenges us to think critically about the distinctiveness of state action and the possibilities of private and parochial forms of governance. It directs attention to the diverse tasks undertaken by non-state security agents and the complex interactions and relations between different providers (Jones, 2006, 221).

Much focus has concentrated on the visible face of policing and the array of patrol and guarding agents employed in diverse spheres of social life. This includes neighbourhood wardens on housing estates, concierges in apartment blocks and offices, private security guards in shopping and retail outlets, door supervisors or 'bouncers' in bars; and nightclubs. The stewards at entertainment venues, park police in open spaces and recreational areas, street wardens and city-guards in town centres and traffic wardens patrolling the streets - all of whom impact upon public security in routine, but essential, ways. Much of this activity engenders little public scrutiny as cases usually do not end up in court, largely because the commercial objectives of private investigations are not necessarily compatible with prosecution. Policing can also feature as a secondary or ancillary task in many occupations, as diverse as teachers, taxi-drivers and landlords. Given the salience of concerns over insecurity and behaviour, security-related tasks may become more widespread and explicit. Increasingly, citizens also enlisted as active 'partners' against crime and antisocial behaviour. Policing now becomes part of the architecture through security designs, surveillance and situational crime ...