James, AD and Valkberg, E (2017) Intelligence. Icelandic Police Journal.

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Abstract

In the last 20 years; the notion that intelligence-led policing (ILP) can solve many of policing’s ills, has taken firm hold around the world. Founded on sound business principles, ILP has been endorsed by nation states and by international agencies, which also have developed and promulgated standardized ILP models, systems, and processes. The rhetoric suggests that ILP may deliver leaner, more focused, more professional, policing services when it is used appropriately. On one level, ILP makes perfect sense but the empirical base for meaningful assessment of its worth, is weak. A deeper analysis of its utility is necessary; for three reasons. First, the use of some ILP methods can lead to significant expansion in the use of what formerly were considered ‘extraordinary’ policing methods; that has significant implications for organizational cultures and dynamics. Second, the use of some ILP methods (such as; surveillance, communications interception, or the deployment of informers) challenges normative expectations of public policing and may threaten citizens’ rights. Third, that staffs who use - or plan the use of - these methods need levels of technical proficiency, experience and soft skills that can be in short supply in public policing. Naturally, policies that seem to promise more can be done with less, have universal appeal. Even if ILP may not provide policing with a silver bullet, it may nevertheless have value and merit the support it has received but the hidden costs of its use (in terms of police/ community relations and institutional legitimacy) should give those same policymakers and managers, pause for thought before embarking on the change programme that ILP demands.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	intelligence; intelligence cycle
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Divisions:	Humanities & Social Science
Publisher:	Icelandic Police Service
Date Deposited:	22 May 2019 08:49
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 10:30
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8671

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