NCJ Number
133485
Journal
Policing and Society Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: (1991) Pages: 17-30
Date Published
1991
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The dispersal of the police function in the Netherlands is analyzed on a theoretical level using Foucault's concept of disciplinary power and Cohen's notion of dispersal of social control and blurring.
Abstract
In its focus on the increased interconnections between the regular police and other social control agencies, the factors that possibly influence this process, and the possible consequences of blurring, this article introduces the concept of "grey policing," namely, the informal forms of cooperation between different social control agencies for which the traditional mechanisms of accountability appear obsolete. The forms "grey policing" include the inordinate use of each other's police powers, the exchange of legally protected information, the sharing of technological equipment, and the passing along of the "dirty work." Both the dispersal of the police function and the possible accompanying "grey policing" can have important consequences for the accountability debate in policing. 28 references