On the Biannual International Conference Criminal Justice and Security in Central and Eastern Europe: Concerns and Opportunities for International Police and Policing Research

Abstract

Policing and security in the 21st century are not simple extensions of 20th century assumptions, programs and institutions. Rather, the 21st century continues to witness significant global change, producing the widespread displacement of people across the world, significantly increasing inequality, calling for social justice. The police of the 20th century were largely an extension of 19th century thought and practice, enhanced with modern organizations and technology. Nonetheless, challenges to institutional authority, collapsing social and communications space, and demands for equitable policing, now ascendant in the 21st century, require the reformulation of public safety, broadly cast, including the police and security apparatus. This paper considers some of the challenges confronting modern policing as well as opportunities for change. Of particular importance is how research institutes, like the Institute of Criminal Justice and Security at the University of Maribor, which support police and security agencies. can refocus their research lens to better accommodate processes that connect police and security interventions to their outcomes, some intended and others not. Central to this consideration is the need to introduce qualitative process linkages between what is implemented to address crime and security problems, by whom, and with what effect. Research institutes can lead this agenda, thereby assisting police and security agencies as they grapple with 21st century wicked problems.