Doing police observations in Belgium

In the ninth and final episode, Prof Helene Gundhus talks to Loïc Closon about his research on police training in Belgium. They discuss among others its duration, curriculum and pedagogical approach, compare it to other countries, and reflect how the different elements of the training affect the professional behaviour of future police officers.

In the eighth episode, Dr José Brandariz talks to Dr Amadeu Recasens, renowned expert in security and policing, about the police stop and search discourse and practice in Catalonia and generally in Spain. They reflect on the historical, political and cultural context that shape the discourse, and whether one can compare policing practices in Spain with other seemingly similar EU countries.

In the seventh episode, Dr Sarah Van Praet and Estelle Hanard share the experiences of observing police in Belgium. They touch upon the approaches used to observe the daily work of police officers, they discuss how they established the relationship with the officers and the nature of that relationship and how to process the outcomes of their observations. And they share plenty of anecdotes that provide additional insight into what it means to do field research.

In the sixth episode, Dorota Czerwińska, Prof. Wojciech Jasiński and Dr hab. Karolina Kremens delve into the theory and practice of police stops in Poland: from the specificity of regulation and statistics to the main controversies and how these are dealt with by the police forces. They discuss the human rights aspect of identity checks and stops, as well as the need for more research, media attention and training of police officers.

In the fifth episode, Dr Lucas Melgaço interviews Dr Fieke Jansen (just before she defended her doctoral thesis) on her research on data-driven policing, where she reflects on how the datafication of society changes the understanding of police power, crime and justice. She offers her insights on how technology and data are used in everyday operations of policing, on the concepts of predictive policing and data legitimacy, and on how critical realism has been applied in her doctoral research.

In the fourth episode, Dr Randi Solhjell talks to Markus Himanen about police stop & search in Finland and Norway. What is the specific context in both countries and how is the issue reflected in the public debate? What are the controversies related to police stops governance in the Nordic countries?

In the third episode, Dr Mike Rowe talks to PhD researcher Winnie Agnew-Pauley about her comparative study on the use of police stop and search between Australia and the UK. They discuss the strengths and challenges of doing a comparative research in this area, how it has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and what she can take back to Australia from her field observations in the UK.

In the second episode, young researchers Estelle Clayton and Sharda Murria discuss their research on the use of body worn video in stop and search as a means of strengthening accountability and procedural justice and on the stop and search reform in Scotland, in particular the changes effected in the last few years. They reflect on the differences between England and Wales and Scotland and on how the spirit of procedural justice is embedded (or not) in police practices.

This first episode features a discussion between Prof Sofie De Kimpe and Dr Mike Rowe who reflect on the concept of police stops, the history of research on this topic, and introduce the Police Stops COST Action, a project that explores police stops across Europe as practiced, as experienced and as they affect the wider society.