The PSNI and ‘Community Policing’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Hearty
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
Memory Politics ◽  
The Core ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Irish Republicanism ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
The Impact

This chapter critically evaluates how the interaction between memory politics and police reform processes shapes current views of community policing within Irish republican communities. Establishing the overarching context of post-conflict police reform within which opposing narratives on community policing are pieced together, the chapter critiques the impact that changes in police symbolism, police composition and the nature of the core policing function fulfilled by the PSNI has had on views of policing within working class republican communities. It examines how the Patten programme of police reform has interacted with individual and collective memory to fashion opposing narratives on community policing. The chapter suggests that there are currently two competing master narratives on community policing that prevail within modern Irish republicanism; the ‘critical engagement’ narrative proffered by those in favour of policing that uses the memory of past ‘suspect community’ policing by the RUC to frame itself with assertions of newness, change and of the primary policing function now being to provide a policing service to local communities and the ‘cosmetic reform’ narrative espoused by those who continue to reject post-Patten policing in Northern Ireland that uses memory in a more ideologised manner in order to dismiss police reform as an attempt to normalise ‘British’ policing in Ireland.

Critical Engagement

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Hearty
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Critical Criminology ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
Memory Politics ◽  
Communal Memory ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Community Activists ◽  
Irish Republicanism

This book is an in-depth case study of the role memory politics played in shaping the wider Irish republican debate on policing in Northern Ireland. Looking beyond sensationalist headlines and political sound bites that trumpeted of the historicity of Sinn Fein’s decision to formally endorse policing and the rule of law, it interrogates the fundamental questions that lie at the heart of Irish republican memory politics on policing. Locating itself within the interdisciplinary theoretical spheres of critical criminology, memory studies and transitional justice, this book evidences how the past frames internal tensions within the Irish republican constituency as those traditionally opposed to state policing structures opt to buy into these same structures as part of a wider transitional process. Based on interview data drawn from community activists, political activists and former combatants from across a broad spectrum within modern Irish republicanism, this book examines how individual and collective memories of policing shape ideological positions, interpretations of transitional processes, ‘moving on’ processes with former enemies and views of post-conflict police reform. Providing a timely insight into intra-communal memory contestation in Northern Ireland, the book establishes the intrinsic importance that collective memory and master narratives of struggle, injustice and sacrifice hold for competing hegemons who are struggling for supremacy within an increasingly fragmented Irish republican constituency today.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Hearty
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Memory Politics ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Political Resource ◽  
Irish Republicanism ◽  
Transitional Processes ◽  
Different Levels

The conclusion outlines how memory politics features in different ways and at different levels within the extended Irish republican debate on policing. It suggests that any understanding of the role memory politics plays within modern Irish republicanism must acknowledge that it operates on three different levels; the conventional level, an inter-communal level and an intra-communal level. In operating on the conventional level, memory politics is seen to feature in the Irish republican policing debate in ways that it has featured in other transitioning societies. In operating on an inter-communal level Irish republican policing memory can be seen to feed into the ‘metaconflict’ in a post-conflict society that has not yet systematically addressed its violent past. In operating on an intra-communal level memory is a useful political resource between competing groups who are seeking to either drive or spoil transitional processes in Northern Ireland.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bolton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Conflict Processes ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

In the Introduction, the author describes the background to the book and his personal experiences of violence in Northern Ireland - as a social worker and health and social services manager in Enniskillen and Omagh. He addresses the impact of loss and trauma linked to conflict and the implications for mental health and well-being. The structure of the book is outlined and the author sets the rest of the book in the argument that the mental health of conflict affected communities should be an early and key consideration in peace talks, politics and post-conflict processes.

An institutional perspective of neighbourhood policing reform in austerity era England and Wales

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 230-243
Author(s):  
Jack Greig-Midlane
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Managerial Roles ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Management Functions ◽  
The Impact

In the austerity era in England and Wales, both socio-economic change and shifts in the policing field have triggered a range of police reform narratives. For resource intensive manifestations of community policing, police disinvestment in England and Wales has led to concerns of a swing away from neighbourhood security functions and proactive police work and toward crime management functions and a more reactive approach (Punch, 2012; IPC, 2013). The paper uses an institutional perspective of change in police organisations (March and Olsen, 2011; Crank, 2003) to highlight the importance of values and narratives in processes of reform, mediation, and resistance. The empirical element of the paper explores how changes in the austerity era impact on the reform and delivery of ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ and cultural storytelling in an English police force. The analysis reveals a discursive struggle over the principles and delivery of neighbourhood policing. Police in policymaking and managerial roles subscribe to narratives that suggest Neighbourhood Policing can be reformed to be more scientific, efficient, professional, and effective to counter the impact of austerity, but this is challenged by street level accounts of the impact of austerity on delivery as well as the distinctive cultural values of Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

scholarly journals Lost in transition? Sexuality and justice in post-conflict Northern Ireland

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-180
Author(s):  
Marian Duggan
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Sexual Minority ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Political Resistance ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Legal Requirements ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Divided Society ◽  
Bisexual And Transgender ◽  
The Impact

Northern Ireland has pioneered the delivery of transitional justice, largely as a result of its troubled past. Efforts to guide this long-divided society towards greater inclusion have been facilitated by a range of processes (judicial and otherwise) designed to deliver truth, justice and accountability. Legal requirements to consider a broader demographical representation in consultations means that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voices are increasingly evident in this transition. Yet continued political resistance to sexual minority equality, set against a backdrop of wider social integration, indicates the piecemeal approach to progress which is being adopted. This article critically analyses the socio-legal positioning of sexual minorities in Northern Ireland's ongoing processes of transitional justice. In addressing how sexual orientation fits with the driving factors underpinning a move towards a 'post-conflict' society, the analysis queries the heteronormative cultural dynamics informing this utopian future and the impact this may have on exacerbating rather than eradicating homophobic victimisation.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-31
Author(s):  
Richard Martin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

This chapter introduces the reader to the book’s central endeavour: to make sense of, and critically examine, the social and cultural dynamics that animate human rights law in contemporary policing. The chapter introduces the reader to the general and specific context in which this project takes place. It begins by drawing attention to the emergence of human rights as a normative vision and regulatory basis for police reform across the world and considering the issues that arise from this phenomenon for scholars of human rights and criminal justice. The chapter proceeds to describe and explain the book’s case study of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, situating the study within the country’s post-conflict society, before summarizing how the book develops across its nine substantive chapters.

Maths Week Ireland: Promoting a Positive Attitude to Mathematics in Ireland

2019 ◽  
pp. 173-176
Author(s):  
Eoin Gill
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Republic Of Ireland ◽  
School Activities ◽  
The Core ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Online Activities ◽  
Core Principle ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

Maths Week Ireland is an annual festival established in 2006 by people in the STEM community as an all-island event including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Particular effort is made to highlight maths for life, for careers and as part of our culture. While the core principle is “Maths for All” the main engagement is with schools. In 2018 teachers reported 354,000 primary and second level pupils participating through in-school activities, online activities and events at partner centres. Maths Week creates an opportunity to disseminate new ideas in maths education. It also creates a space whereby teachers can try out new ideas and invent and create new activities with their pupils. This paper describes the organisation and activities of Maths Week and discusses the impact of the initiative with particular reference to evaluation with teachers.

scholarly journals Bridging the Gap? Police Volunteering and Community Policing in Scotland

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Police Services ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Potential Resource

Abstract This article examines how far special constables can act as the ‘bridge’ between police services and local communities, within the context of Scottish policing. I consider the literature around the core concepts of community policing, the condition of community policing Scotland, and the role that volunteer police officers can play in enhancing local policing. Then, I draw upon the findings from qualitative interviews and observations of special constables in one division of Police Scotland, to explore the nature of the special constabulary as a potential resource in community and local policing. Finally, I consider these findings in relation to the ongoing discussions of special constables’ contribution to community policing, and how policing organizations might seek to enhance that contribution. This article, I believe, provides a unique contribution to the currently small but emerging field of research within police volunteerism, and brings the perspective of Scottish special constables to these discussions which have been primarily Anglo-centric.

scholarly journals Towards Victim-oriented Police? Some Reflections on the Concept and Purpose of Policing and Their Implications for Victim-oriented Police Reform

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Paterson ◽  
Andrew Williams
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
The Core ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Common Understanding

The global policy drift towards community policing and an enhanced philosophical and practical orientation towards victims of crime has been slow but incrementally successful in some jurisdictions. This article uses a comparative approach to review the different conceptual and theoretical assumptions that underpin thinking about policing to tentatively identify the factors that support victim-oriented police reform. The article draws on evidence from India and Argentina plus England and Wales to assess how different policing models have translated victim-oriented language into practice. It is notable that while police forces across the globe often share a common understanding of police functions, there is less agreement when referring to how to engage with citizens and balancing the broader panoply of policing priorities. Conceptual understandings of policing often contain unarticulated assumptions about how policing should be done, and this partly explains why placing citizenship and victims at the core in rhetorical terms does not always translate into practice. The article concludes with a call for a concerted effort to articulate a clear philosophical and conceptual understanding of victim-oriented policing as an enabler of police reform.

Asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland: the impact of post-migration stressors on mental health

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
F. Murphy ◽  
U. M. Vieten
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

Abstract Objectives: In recent years, Northern Ireland has seen an increase in the numbers of asylum seekers and refugees. Given its status as a post-conflict region, this is a relatively new phenomenon for the area. Northern Ireland is also the only part of the United Kingdom (UK) without a refugee integration strategy. In 2016, we conducted an extensive study for the racial equality unit of the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister in Stormont on the everyday life experience of asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland with view to understanding how service delivery and notions of integration/inclusion impact. Methods: This was a mixed methods study using quantitative survey methods and in-depth semi-structured interviews with service providers, asylum seekers, refugees and new UK citizens. We examined a range of service provision such as education, labour, legal provision, housing and health. Results: This article examines the issue of mental health with respect to asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland. The results delineate how asylum seekers and refugee’s mental health is dramatically impacted by the asylum system in Northern Ireland (and hence, the UK) and the dearth thereof, of particular and necessary supports and access issues in the space of health and mental health in Northern Ireland. We describe how post-migration stressors experienced through the UK asylum system further compound mental health issues. The findings provide a focus on the asylum system, housing and employment. Conclusions: Our research found a dearth of mental health supports in Northern Ireland and concluded that the asylum system in the UK (as a form of post-migration stressor) further exacerbates and contributes to poor mental health and well-being for many asylum seekers and refugees.

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