Project

Measuring police performance

Code
bof/baf/4y/2024/01/712
Duration
01 January 2024 → 31 December 2025
Funding
Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Social sciences
    • Criminography and methods of criminological investigation
    • Police administration, procedures and practice
    • Safety, prevention and police
Keywords
performance measurement police measurement instruments police results effectivity Accountability
 
Project description

Based on previous research into the functioning of the Belgian integrated police (see, among others, De Stercke & Janssens, 2024; Janssens & Schelpe, 2023; Janssens, 2023; Janssens et al., 2023), a clear gap in the literature was identified: the measurement of police outcomes. Internationally, this is an important research theme (see Zürcher et al., 2023), but consolidated data is currently absent. Comparative research will be conducted, including desk research and interviews with stakeholders, as well as site visits to analyze and contextualize the impact of measuring police outcomes. Case studies will be selected in the following police jurisdictions: Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Finland, Israel, New Zealand, North Rhine-Westphalia, the United States, Croatia, Italy, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The actual selection will be based on accessibility, existing data, and publications. The research seeks answers to the following research questions: how are different police organizations  held accountable, how reliable are the methods used, what side effects do the methods entail, and what good or innovative practices can be identified? Other research questions concern the measurement methods and indicators used to measure police performance and the extent to which these methods and indicators can be transferred to the Belgian context.

Sources

  • De Stercke, C., & Janssens, J. (2024). Absenteïsme bij de Belgische geïntegreerde politie : een statistische analyse = L’absentéisme à la police intégrée belge : une analyse statistique. Antwerpen: Maklu.
  • Janssens, J., & Schelpe, D. (2023). Bestuurlijke politie. In S. De Kimpe & T. Van den Broeck (Eds.), Blauw : een handboek over de politie, haar functie, werking en organisatie(pp. 521–571). Brugge: Vanden Broele.
  • Janssens, J. (2023). Hoe een status quo geen antwoord op verandering is. BLUE MINDS7(5), 29–32.
  • Janssens, J., Wittevrongel, F., De Stercke, C., Frederickx, S., & De Landsheer, J. (2023). Internationale politiesamenwerking in 2030 : naar een groter bewustzijn, effectieve structuren en netwerken. InStaten-Generaal van de politie : een blauwdruk voor de politie van de toekomst (pp. 199–223). Brugge: Vanden Broele.
  • Zürcher, E., Eekelschot, L., Wolcke, A., Strang, L. (2023). Een internationale vergelijking van methoden voor het meten van politieresultaten. Santa Monica: RAND.