Presentation 'The police (occupational) culture in belgian capital city patrol units: assessing styles, meanings & patterns'

This presentation elaborates on findings of a research focussing on the police occupational culture in several police patrol units located in the Belgian capital city. The main method is participational observation, combined with 'mini-interviews' with patrol officers; observing daily duties, asking questions about attitudes and routine behaviour. The police occupational culture is often depicted as a stress coping mechanism; merely reducing police officers to passive cultural dopes and/or suggesting somehow fixed working styles. However, during fieldwork the research focus gradually shifted to insights that patrol officers construct, negotiate situational schemes shaping action; underpinning the idea that strategies for action, even styles, should rather be viewed as one of many facets of a cultural 'toolkit'. Patrol officers likewise shape (certain) features of the police occupational culture by developing legible meanings through patterns of conduct. Research findings suggest the need for a more dynamic approach and theoretical sophistication of the concept of the police occupational culture and its implications for the police and policing.