Police Training in Practice: Organization and Delivery According to European Law Enforcement Agencies

Police training plays a crucial role in the development of police officers. Because the training of police officers combines various educational components and is governed by organizational guidelines, police training is a complex, multifaceted topic. The current study investigates training at six European law enforcement agencies and aims to identify strengths and challenges of current training organization and practice. We interviewed a total of 16 police instructors and seven police coordinators with conceptual training tasks. A thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006; Terry et al., 2017) was conducted and results organized in the two main themes evident across all six law enforcement agencies: organization of training and delivery of training. Results show that governmental structures and police executive boards are seen as the primary authorities that define the training framework in which police instructors operate. These administrative structures regulate distant and immediate resources, such as available training time, training facilities, equipment, and personnel. Within the confines of available resources and predetermined training frameworks, results indicate that police instructors thoroughly enjoy teaching, creating supportive and motivating learning environments, and applying their personal learning perspectives to training. Nonetheless, police instructors are critical of the level of training they are able to achieve with the available resources.

Prácticas sociales en el arte en la ciudad de Madrid: intervención con colectivos vulnerables

As of two cases in this study which were carried out in Madrid as social practices in art, community methodologies have been detailed as practiced in order to formalize collaborative creation proposed by each one. El Beso (The Kiss) (2018) and Cuentos que nunca cuentan (Tales that are never told) (2010) were carried out by the artist Toxic Lesbian with the participation of institutions such as Medialab-Prado and Intermediae, both of which are integrated in Matadero Madrid, Contemporary art creation center of the City Hall of Madrid. Both cases involved participation of the most directly concerned audiences because of the themes undertaken: migrant women in El Beso (The Kiss) and collectives of directly involved people in mental health in Cuentos que Nunca Cuentan (Tales that are never told). The proposals presupposed intervention in the public space of the city for their production and involved a wide representation of activists and elements of social or cultural institutions. This qualitative análisis of the processes and testimonies of the agents that participated seeks delving into the motivations of communities to become involved in this type of development, the role played by institutions or the inevitable politization of the proposals by the administrative structures that finance them. A partir de dos casos, objetos de este estudio, y desarrollados en la ciudad de Madrid como prácticas sociales en el arte, se pormenoriza en sus metodologías comunitarias puestas en práctica para formalizar la creación colaborativa que cada uno propone. El Beso (2018) y Cuentos que nunca cuentan (2010) fueron llevados a cabo por la artista Toxic Lesbian con la participación de instituciones como Medialab-Prado e Intermediae, ambas integradas en Matadero Madrid, Centro de creación contemporánea del ayuntamiento. Los dos casos supusieron la participación de los públicos más directamente concernidos por las temáticas abordadas: mujeres migrantes en El Beso y colectivos en primera persona en salud mental para Cuentos que nunca cuentan. Las propuestas presuponían la intervención en el espacio público de la ciudad para su producción, e implicaron a una amplia representación de la sociedad civil a través de asociaciones, activistas y dispositivos institucionales sociales o culturales. Este análisis cualitativo de los procesos y testimonios de los agentes intervinientes persigue profundizar en las motivaciones de las comunidades para implicarse en estos desarrollos, en el papel de las instituciones o en la irremediable politización de las propuestas por parte de las estructuras administrativas que los financian.

Education in Post-Soviet Russia: Marketisation, Financialisation and Bureacratisation – The Case of Universities

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, market relations and institutions have begun vigorously penetrating not only the fields of production and services, but also the social sphere. In this text, the author reveals the contradictions implicit in the transformations that over 30 years have occurred in post-Soviet Russia in the field of education and that have seen the total marketisation of this area. As an example, the article examines Russian universities. The process of marketisation of university education has taken the direct forms of the establishment of private universities and the introduction of paid tuition in state universities, and also of changes to the administrative structures of universities, to the content of instruction programmes, and to assessment of the quality of the education received by students as well as of the outcomes of the activity both of university teachers and of the institutions as a whole.

The Archae System Revisited: The Records of Indebtedness to Medieval Jews

This article examines on document acknowledging debt to Maruna, a Jewish woman, to John of Kent that was deposited in a chest in Canterbury in 1264. Using this document, the article examines what can be learned about the archae system in thirteenth-century England from the perspective of the documents which were produced there. A series of chests (Lat. pl. archae) were established across England following the introduction of the Articles of the Jewry (1194), which regulated the production, use, and storage of the records generated by Jewish moneylending activities in medieval England. Additionally, the Articles of the Jewry required that more general business transactions, such as the sale and purchase of property, also be recorded at the archae. This paper considers not only the legal and administrative structures which governed the production of such records but also how these systems manifested themselves within the documents which produced at the archae. Finally, it will consider the role that ritual and gender had to play in such transactions and the documents which recorded them.

Городские агломерации: проблемы и тенденции развития

The subject of this research was the modern urban agglomerations and its aim was to find out the main tendencies of their development by way of the analyses of problems faced by urban agglomerations and their management mechanisms. The main method of the conducted research was the comparative legal method, as the study is based on comparing the experience of different countries in the sphere of urban governance. The author used sociological, systemic and structural-functional approaches as well. The author believes that the problems faced by urban agglomerations are caused by the activities of different administrative bodies at their territory, the lack of proper coordination in the face of pretty acute rivalry between them. The mentioned problems are also exacerbated by modern migration processes. The number of “native” inhabitants is being decreased in many cities, the middle class is largely moving to suburbs while poor people are moving to urban centers, the urban population is getting older. The article also contains the analyses of different attitudes towards organization of administrative structures at the territory of the modern agglomeration. Proponents of only one strong jurisdiction, functioning within the agglomeration and taking decisions obligatory for the whole area, were called “consolidationists. “Polycentrists” believe that the more various jurisdictions function within the agglomeration the better, because centralized and hierarchical administrative model is outdated and ineffective.

Followership Resilience in Administrative Structures: A New Perspective

The study explores followership resilience in three Bulgarian municipalities. Its purpose is twofold: first, to draw the attention of researchers and managers on followership resilience, and second, to explore proactivity and trust as factors of followership re­silience in administrative structures. The study is based on a qualitative approach, and uses a combi­nation of two research strategies – exploratory and descriptive. Data is collected through semi-struc­tured interviews with a sample of 35 municipal em­ployees (10.2% from the general population). Follow­ership resilience is analyzed by means of followers’ psychological readiness to participate in the deci­sion-making process and to trust superiors. Four types of followers are identified and strengths and weaknesses of each type are discussed. The prefer­ence of the majority of interviewees (69%) to follow instructions and not to trust leaders is interpreted. It is concluded that the formula for successful fol­lowership resilience in terms of proactivity and trust involves achieving balance and coherence.

Organizational staff formation and financing of the Department of Military Settlements in 1835–1857

The article examines the organizational staffing and financing of the Department of Military Settlements from 1835 to 1857 in a specific historical study. Research methods. An important aspect of the methodological basis is the use of general scientific methods as historical method and elements of the statistical method (coverage of staffing and funding of the Department of Military Settlements of the considered period); and special-historical method as problem-chronological (consideration of the dynamics of events in chronological order analysing the formation of the Department of Military Settlements and its development). The scientific novelty of the work is that the article, for the first time and on the basis of legislative acts comprehensively examines the historical experience of the Department of Military Settlements of the Ministry of War which was one of the important administrative structures during 1835-1857 in the Russian Empire. It has been found that the organization of the Department of Military Settlements was divided into two periods: 1) 1835–1843 and 2) 1843–1857. Conclusions. The establishment of the Department of Military Settlements of the Cavalry during the reign of Emperors Mykola I and Alexander II in the structure of the Ministry of War was a natural requirement of the time, due to the need of increasing efficiency and mobility of management of the cavalry military settlements. The analysis of the organizational structure of the staff list of the Department of Military Settlements shows that since 1843 the powers and responsibilities of the staff have been expanded, management structures have been modernized, and funding has been increased. The activities of the Department of Military Settlements had a systemic and structural structure of all management levels; the division of functions and responsibilities was clearly regulated by law.

PANDEMIC COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY (CASE: SPAIN AND POLAND)

<i>The current pandemic has provided many examples of effective and not so effective communication strategies from government agencies. In this short article, the authors focus on an analysis of the COVID-19 crisis communication from selected governments of Spain and Poland. Despite the differences in communication strategies of both countries, resulting from characteristic administrative structures and constitutional competences, common features as well as errors and shortcomings can be observed. The authors conclude that the particularism of political interests of the party politicians, who were in power at the time of the pandemic outbreak (regardless of their political foundations) may be a threat to the national security of a given country undermining the public trust, causing unwanted behaviours and thus translating into an extent and a duration of the pandemic as well as negative economic consequences. The crisis of the virus turns out to be a test that highlights the shortcomings of the political and social systems of both countries and opens up the field for further research.</i>

What is evidence as evidence is used? A case of dualism?

How ‘evidence’ is conceptualised, generated and deployed in meso-level policy implementation on the ground is critical to health delivery. Using the case of a large-scale health service reconfiguration in northwest England, this study began as a narrative investigation into how different data types and sources are prioritised as NHS administrative structures change over time. During the research, one unpopular reconfiguration decision, the downgrading of a hospital, was challenged using judicial review. Suddenly, a key decision was being based not upon ‘facts and data’ type evidence but upon evidence of adherence to administrative procedure. This transferred focus away from the ever-shifting categories and hierarchies of data ‘types’ towards an emphasis on process. By comparing two deliberative contexts—committee and judicial review—this article proposes that evidence can be understood as simultaneously entity and process. As health service reconfigurations continue in response to austerity, integration agendas, evolving organisational landscapes, and demographic and political change, it is increasingly important to recognise the different meanings and uses of evidence.

¿De verdad estamos capacitados para archivar la “república de los datos” en un entorno digital?

Ante unas administraciones públicas que se centran en los datos, el autor se cuestiona en este texto si la profesión está capacitada –o si, al menos, así lo entiende nuestra organización–, para hacernos cargo de los datos de los sistemas de información pública; si realmente poseemos una formación suficientemente cualificada y las herramientas específicas necesarias; y si tenemos el posicionamiento adecuado en las estructuras administrativas para gestionarlos y aplicarlos de forma transversal. Facing of the public administrations that focus on data, the author queries in this text if the profession is qualified ‘or if, at least our organization understands it that way’ to take over the data of the public information systems, if we really have a sufficiently qualified training and the necessary specific tools and if we have the appropriate positioning in the administrative structures to manage and apply them in a transversal way.