The Many Faces of Nodal Policing: Team Play and Improvisation in Dutch Community Safety

Van Steden, R., Wood, J., Shearing, C & Boutellier, H. 2013. The Many Faces of Nodal Policing: Team Play and Improvisation in Dutch Community Safety. Security Journal [online]

20 Pages Posted: 6 Dec 2015

See all articles by Ronald van Steden

Ronald van Steden

VU University Amsterdam

Jennifer Wood

Temple University

Clifford Shearing

University of Cape Town; University of Montreal, School of Criminology; University of New South Wales; University of Toronto

Hans Boutellier

VU University Amsterdam

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

In this article, we seek to explain how one police organization, the Dutch police, has situated itself in various partnership arrangements that make innovative use of its authority and capacities. Such arrangements are notable for their strategic attention to high-risk places, and the flows of people, information and other goods in the spaces between them. We use the term ‘policing assemblages’ to capture the eclectic and rather fluid character of such partnerships. Four particular initiatives in Amsterdam are used to illustrate the ways in which such assemblages can emerge and function. We adopt the metaphor of ‘team play’ to characterize the relations between police and their partners in this ‘nodal’ policing field. We suggest that if nodal policing continues, the public police may play more varied and indirect roles in managing risky spaces and behaviors. Nodal policing could be helpful in a period of high public demand for security, but its stability and longevity requires further consideration.

Keywords: nodal governance; policing; security

JEL Classification: H70

Suggested Citation

van Steden, Ronald and Wood, Jennifer and Shearing, Clifford D and Boutellier, Hans, The Many Faces of Nodal Policing: Team Play and Improvisation in Dutch Community Safety (2013). Van Steden, R., Wood, J., Shearing, C & Boutellier, H. 2013. The Many Faces of Nodal Policing: Team Play and Improvisation in Dutch Community Safety. Security Journal [online], Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2674009 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2674009

Ronald Van Steden

VU University Amsterdam ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, ND North Holland 1081 HV
Netherlands

Jennifer Wood

Temple University ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19122
United States

Clifford D Shearing (Contact Author)

University of Cape Town ( email )

Private Bag X3
Rondebosch, Western Cape 7701
South Africa

HOME PAGE: http://www.publiclaw.uct.ac.za/pbl/staff/cshearing

University of Montreal, School of Criminology ( email )

C.P. 6128 succursale Centre-ville
Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7
Canada

University of New South Wales ( email )

Sydney
Australia

University of Toronto ( email )

Robarts Library
130 St. George Street, Room 8001
Toronto, ON M5S 1A5
Canada
416-978-3720 Ext. 234 (Phone)
416-978-4195 (Fax)

Hans Boutellier

VU University Amsterdam ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, ND North Holland 1081 HV
Netherlands

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