Why police keep believing in partnership policing despite evidence it fails
Swedish researchers found that police officers maintain faith in collaborative policing models through psychological coping mechanisms, not results. The finding matters because public agencies often sustain institutional myths—approved strategies that may not deliver outcomes—revealing how organizations manage pressure and justify resource commitments independent of actual effectiveness.
Originaltitel: Maintaining hope in partnership policing
<p>Purpose – This article examines how hope for an effective partnership approach to policing is maintained ineveryday policing.</p><p>Design/methodology/approach – Data collection involved 22 qualitative interviews, and observationswith police officers and municipal employees in Stockholm, Sweden. It also includes an analysis of theirdocuments.</p><p>Findings – Using the concept of mechanisms of hope (Brunsson, 2006, 2009), this article explores how policeofficers and other actors in the security landscape maintain hope in partnership policing despite havingcompelling reasons to be cynical and sceptical. The findings indicate that mechanism of hope is an importantelement in the way police handle uncertainty and maintain institutional pressures in their everyday policingpractices.</p><p>Originality/value – By demonstrating how actors responsible for implementing a partnership approach topolicing maintain hope in partnership policing, this article advances our understanding of myths in policing, aswell as the institutional settings in which policing is conducted (Crank, 2003). Moreover, this article providesinsight into the opportunities and challenges embedded in the social configuration of hope.</p>