This research group aims to mainstream policing research into public administration, and vice versa, to foster mutual exchange and learning among scholars and professionals working at the intersections of these two fields. The inaugural ENPA conference is an opportunity to take stock of the academic field of policing and public management, to explore opportunities for new lines of research and to compare and contrast policing and public management in different political, economic and social contexts. In doing so, this research group invites a variety of ways of presenting and discussing research and practice, including not only formal presentation of papers but also roundtables, lightning talks, interactions with local police. Please be imaginative but rigorous in your submissions.

The provision of public order and safety, enforcement of the law, and protection against crime and physical threats – in short, the policing of society -- represents a core function of the modern state. In fact, policing lies right at the heart of the relationships between citizens and the state, with questions of legitimacy, equity, power, authority, governance as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of organizational performance as central matters of interest. Policing is also both unique and generalizable – sometimes in unrecognized ways -- as a form of public service. (Hartley et al. 2023). While police organizations are at the core of the scholarly and professional interest of this study group, the analysis of policing includes complex arrangements going beyond the boundaries of police organizations. It follows from this that the remit of this research group also covers collaborative practices and arrangements in the fields of public safety and domestic security.

For too long, policing scholars have tended to focus on understanding the particularities of the jurisdictions and law of their own home country, with less attention to the governance, institutional and organizational comparisons which can enlighten analysis focused on comparison. As a response, we particularly invite papers which explore different historic and national contexts which have led to divergent pathways in public values, community-government relationships, management and leadership of policing.

Beyond the comparative elements, we invite papers exploring questions concerning legitimacy, equity, power, authority, governance and organizational performance in policing; the analysis of organizational functions such as strategic planning, human resource management, budgeting and evaluation, coordination of operations, control of accountability of policing, and cooperation with public and private partners; whether and how policing is value-creating or value-destroying in different settings and social environments; changing roles and expectations of police at points of political and societal change and/or stress and austerity; values; operations management; and/or consequences in or across different locales.

Given the interdisciplinary nature of the subject matter, we welcome researchers from different academic fields or sub-fields, ranging from public administration, management or leadership, organization research, organization, or public policy analysis to public law, criminal justice, criminology and beyond.