![]() The need for consent is especially true of police, who wield much potential power, both intrusive and coercive, over citizens. ![]() Liberal democracies uphold the value of consent of the governed, which bestows legitimacy and the moral right of government to govern, a function which includes the provision of basic public services such as security and order. The most difficulty transitions, given the legacy of socialist policing policies, cultures and values, include the quest for representativeness, such that major salient social identities (specifically gender and ethnicity) are reflected in the composition of police personnel integrity management, that is operational policies which actively and persistently enforce stated normative standards to prevent corruption and abuses of power semi-autonomy which refers to the need and capacity by the police to balance responsiveness to state and civic society demands with the requirement that the police to enforce the law impartially, professionally and without bias internal democracy within the police organization 6 and accountability by the police to relevant state legislative, executive and judicial organizations and to civic society.ħKey to the concept of legitimacy is consent. The validity of core values is not much of an issue anymore 5 the difficulty is converting core democratic values into effective policies which are accepted by the state, civic society and the police. In post-authoritarian and post-communist countries alike, the dismantling of regime policing and the establishment of democratic policing – policing that is professionally effective, accountable and legitimate – is an indicator of the consolidation of democracy.ģConceptions of democratic policing, which then are the yardsticks by which the performance of policing systems will be measured by the international policy community and progressive police leaders, have slowly coalesced in transnational policing regimes, and have become entrenched in international/transnational agreements and understandings, such as UN Codes of Conduct for law enforcement or the use of force by or the Council of Europe codes of conduct for police European Union guidelines for reform of the policing systems of potential accession countries guidelines for democratic policing in post-conflict societies, or reform commission reports in societies seeking to end or lessen sectarian violence and conflicts.ĥStriving to achieve these values is seen as essential to any claim that reforms in the structure, culture or work performance of the police which can be labeled democratic. ![]() The police is the key state agency responsible for policing and ensuring public security, and is thus strongly linked with the well-being of individuals and communities through its routine provision of preventive, administrative and punitive services, including the undertaking of criminal investigation, recovering stolen property and bringing suspects to justice. Democratic policingĢThe provision of security to citizens and communities is an essential function of the modern state. Finally, it outlines some directions for future research on crime control and police reform in the region. It begins with a discussion of the concept of democratic policing as the ostensible goal of police reform in democratising states, then outlines the general parameters of police reform in post-socialist states, including some of the main obstacles and problems that have been encountered. 2 This article discusses some of the findings of that book and provides an overview of the challenges of reforming the structures and processes of policing in the context of the democratic transition of Central and Eastern Europe. 1 In a recent comparative research project on police reform in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), we attempted to examine police reforms in fourteen countries since 1989. ![]() 1While police reform in post-conflict settings has received much attention recently from both academics and practitioners, comparative studies of transformations of policing systems in countries undergoing more peaceful transitions from authoritarianism and state socialism to democracy are surprisingly less common.
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