The authors have taken a contribution from Frank Bovenkerk from 2003 as a starting point. In this text, Bovenkerk reflects on taboos in criminology. In science, in addition to independence, focus on truth-finding, a willingness to self-correct and organized skepticism, courage is also an important quality. Where Bovenkerk focuses more broadly on criminology, this contribution focuses in particular on taboos and requirements for scientists in police research.

Dutch police research is predominantly of a policy supporting or evaluative nature. Significant publications, such as those that started police research in the 1970s, are rare. This loss is analyzed in this article. Firstly, the author describes how the research community has changed: police officers who were disillusioned with the organization and mastered scientific competencies were succeeded by university-educated researchers who had to earn a position in the police. Secondly, the police integrated the societal urge for change, transformed it into a style of management and immunized themselves in this way against innovation. Thirdly, researchers exchanged social scientific theories for policy concepts, focusing on efficiency and excluding a societal perspective on the police. Finally, by recognizing the impact of research as a criterion of success, researchers relinquished their judgment on the quality of their research to police managers. Improvement of the situation depends first of all on the creativity and boldness of researchers.

This contribution offers a review of the recently published book Sécurité. Ce qu’on vous cache (‘Security. What is being hidden for you’) written by Patrice Bergougnoux (with Frédéric Ploquin). Bergougnoux has had a long career inside the French police organisation. His book comes out at a crucial moment, now the French police has become subject of a fierce debate due to its expanded powers during the state of emergency in place since the terrorist attacks in Paris in november 2016 up to today. Bergougnoux gives an insider’s view on the police organisation and how it became a subject of power struggle between various French political forces. While the French have had a national police for 75 years, the Netherlands only recently formed a national force. This book entails a national vision on how to structure the police services and as such could be inspiring for the Dutch debate on the national police.

Several reports and publications criticise the Dutch police for discriminating against minorities during stop-and-search actions. This article argues that discrimination can be found in the police but not to the extent that the critics suggest. Recent research on stop-and-search practices in a large Dutch city suggests that the police treat youth with a minority background differently but that they don’t treat them unequally. The article concludes with a warning against the use of the expression ethnic profiling, because it hinders correction of discrimination by the police.

After World War I, the Dutch police, inspired by the German example, underwent a fast modernisation of its organisation. Two generations of police officers were the pacesetters in this reform. Technological innovations made them realize that the effectiveness of the police could be increased, that they had acquired the status of professionals, thanks to their new insights, and that professional thieves were their main enemies. During the 1930s, the police renewal stagnated, but the ties with Germany were not broken. Based on shared beliefs, some innovators rallied to the side of the German occupiers during World War II. In the end, the renewal movement did not recover from the experiences during the occupation.

Fifty three shades of grey refers to the radical transformation of policing and security in society from a traditional public – and foremost ‘blue’ – police system into a hybrid(semi)public and private policing system which is losing its dominant – and visible – blue character. Using the criminological concepts ‘police as an institute’ and ‘policing as a process’ the ongoing blurring of boundaries between different public and private organisations is discussed in the context of the proliferation of different forms of multi-agency cooperation. Whereas in the traditional discourse of the public police system a strong tradition of analysing the democratic nature of policing exists, in the public and scientific perception of the new, variegated police constellation such notions are still lacking, which contributes to the relative lack of political control, the defective democratic accountability and fragile human rights in the grey areas. The public discourse on the police remains too narrowly focused on the public police system. ‘Normal science’ of policing needs to break away from ‘police as an institute’ to incorporate new research questions and new concepts regarding ‘policing as a process’.

In this contribution the author reviews De aanklager by F. de Vlaming..