The role of networks in policing
Abstract
Social ties are a defining feature of policing. They enforce norms, carry prestige, reward loyalty, silence dissent, create cohesion, and protect group boundaries. Network analysis has emerged as a key method for mapping these ties – whether between assigned partners or the colleagues officers text and meet for off-duty drinks – and for understanding how they shape daily actions and law enforcement culture. This review highlights key studies using network approaches to understand policing. By putting relations at the forefront, these studies build on foundational police scholarship, and open new ways for investigating policing’s social structure. However, despite recent advances in network approaches, current work tends to focus on misconduct, and uses of force, leaving unanswered questions about how social ties can promote positive outcomes, such as officer morale, well-being, and recruitment. To advance the field, we call for comprehensive data across multiple agencies and levels to fully capture the central role of social ties in policing.
Marie Ouellet
Principal Investigator
Dr. Marie Ouellet’s research focuses on delinquent groups, including how they emerge and evolve, and how networks structure this process. She is currently leading a longitudinal study on police networks to better understand the informal structure of policing, including organizational cohesion and fragmentation within departments, and the consequences of these network structures on the diffusion of behaviors and attitudes. Ouellet’s work has been published in Criminology, Criminology & Public Policy, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly.
Sadaf Hashimi
Assistant Professor
Dr. Hashimi’s research centers on issues pertaining to policing and policy, peer influence and crime, and violence prevention efforts. Specifically, Dr. Hashimi employs social network analysis and various other research designs to uncover patterns of criminal and non-criminal behaviors that relate to co-offending, police misconduct, police use of force, and gang involvement.