Center for Community-Based Policing and Post-Conflict Police Reform

The Center for Community-Based Policing and Post-Conflict Police Reform is an international and interdisciplinary research and learning center hosted by the Department of International Environment and Development Studies, NMBU.

prosjekt

About/Aims

Background

The ICT4COP Center aims to perform cutting-edge research and teaching on central issues related to community-based policing (COP) and post-conflict police reform. In doing so, the Center will develop and apply novel approaches to address current and emerging challenges related to the multitude of choices which can be made in policing, security provision and police reform in these difficult contexts.

Objective

Identifying transformative ideas for bridging the gaps between state, public and private security providers to promote understanding and cooperation for enhanced human security, and assisting and studying their implementation.
To develop and apply novel approaches to the study of post-conflict police reform through combining research, practice and technologies to address the concrete and complex challenges the project has identified.
To create a dynamic arena for researchers in social science and technology, international and national police and civil society actors working with communities to share academic, practical and technical experiences and ideas on COP and police reform.
To undertake high quality, interdisciplinary co-productive, applied and action research on current and emerging issues relevant to COP and police reform.
To communicate research findings in key international and national policy and implementation environments.
To develop teaching and learning resources for a variety of interested users, including students, policymakers, bureaucrats, police, and civil society actors.
To maintain and further develop our global network of researchers and practitioners in collaboration with the PHS Police Experts Network (PEN).

More about the project

The ICT4COP Center’s acitvities is guided by an Advisory Group consisting of the following members:

A. Heather Coyne, Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen
Abda Khalid, COMSATS University Abbottabad
Alice Hills, Durham University and University of Leeds
Arunima Sehgal Mukherjee, University of Oslo
Arturo Matute, Del Valle University of Guatemala
Babar Bashir, Rozan
Bahadar Nawab Khattak, COMSATS University Islamabad
Cecilia Dunster
Douglas Brand, University of Oxford
Erika Rojas, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Hugo Frühling, University of Chile
Ingrid Nyborg, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Ingunn Andersen, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Jaishankar Ganapathy, Norwegian Police Academy
Janina Czapska, Jagiellonian University
Kari Osland, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Katarzyna Struzinska, Jagiellonian University
Petter Nielsen, University of Oslo
Shai André Divon, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Stian Lid, Oslo Metropolitan University
Tor Damkås, Norwegian Police Academy

News/Findings

TRUST AND POLICE

This is a short article on why there seems to be a high level of mistrust among the police and the community globally. I aim to highlight why trusting the police is pertinent and point out some key issues and recommendations that are relevant for the police and communities in developing collaborative strategies for the future.

The Students Voice in a World of Disarray: (In)Security and Bloody Headlines

War, climate change, gender oppression: Just casual notions of the world we live in? “Bloody Headlines” cannot be accepted as a given reality, they must be hatched and sprouted with new seeds. I argue novel ideas must replace incumbent regime ways of thinking, where students are important actors with agency and responsibility to create change.

Welcoming our new interns!

The Center for Community-Based Policing and Post-Conflict Police Reform is joined by four new interns this semester! Here is an introduction of Tomas, Garima, Franklina and Jacob.

International Day of Peace: Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Communities.

For some, peace implies the laying down of arms and for others, it connotes the absence of war. In as much as this duality to peace is important, I contend that true peace entails much more than just the laying down of arms or the mere absence of war.

A relationship between crime and police

"I argue that policing is largely a community orientated profession, in which their relationship to the people they protect is essential for a safe and sustainable environment. This relationship, however, is two-sided, as it is not only up to the police to build constructive connections, but also the community’s responsibility to partake in this partnership."

Reviews

Publications

Academic Publications

The project has produced a number of academic articles, policy briefs, and digital stories. See all publications from ICT4COP - a European Commission Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation project - here

e-Handbook on Community-Oriented Policing

This ICT4COP e-Handbook recognizes and builds upon the UN approach to Community-Oriented Policing, offering a unique, research-based perspective on the particular challenges of post-conflict contexts. Based on interdisciplinary, qualitative field-based research and practical experience from 11 post-conflict areas across the globe, it aims to stimulate critical reflection and debate about potential opportunities, risks and dilemmas of often internationally assisted COP approaches and practices. As such, the material presented seeks to add to the understanding of the complexities involved when implementing COP.

Through a combination of texts and digital storytelling, the e-handbook points to conceptual underpinnings, examples of promising practices and in some cases specific recommendations. Throughout we stress that efforts to reform the police sector stand little chance of succeeding if not based on both an understanding of the broader local security context, as well as the often-differentiated needs and priorities of various actors at the local level.

Click here to access the eHandbook

e-learning programme on COP in post-conflict areas for international police advisors

We are pleased to introduce our online course for international police advisors engaged in implementing Community-Oriented Policing (COP) in post-conflict areas!
The course was created and produced by Norwegian Police University College in cooperation with researchers and the network of international police experts (PEN) in the Horizon 2020 Research Project ‘Community-Based Policing and Post Conflict Police Reform (ICT4COP).

The course is comprised of three main modules:

Preparing for your mission (module 1)
Engaging in COP initiatives (module 2)
Sustaining COP once internationally advisors have left (module 3)

The first module gives an introduction to the course and each of the following modules will provide you with relevant learning, competencies and skills. The modules include a lot of information, and it is best to space them out setting aside sufficient time to review each one on its own.

Each module takes between 30 to 50 minutes to complete and ends with a self-assessment of the relevant competencies and skills. You are also invited to reflect upon what you hear throughout the modules using the reflection questions in the workbook. Finally, you are encouraged to go back and review the modules when you are on your mission and take time to reflect with your local and international colleagues. The course is available either on the ICT4COP platform (here), or through CEPOL’s learning platform (here).

Click here to see the introduction video

Events

See call for papers here

Researchers

External participants

Researchers

The ICT4COP project engaged 45 individual researchers from different partner institutions. You can read more about their profile and roles in the project here.

Police Experts Network (PEN)
A key element of the ICT4COP project has been the PEN (Police Experts Network). PEN is a dynamic network consisting of approximately 50 individual volunteer members, including academics, NGOs and police professionals with experience from a variety of organizations, international institutions, national police services and international police missions. All have experience and knowledge on Community-Oriented Policing (COP) in post-conflict environments. The main idea of integration of a Police Experts Network into the research project was to include policing experts in the study of the project’s 11 case countries, both as sources of information, and as door-openers in the field. Thus, the PEN’s practical knowledge and expertise has enriched the post-conflict research findings, resulting in material that is dually grounded in research and practice. Recruitment to the PEN is an ongoing process and includes both retired and active professionals.

See the News/Findings section for interviews with some of the PEN-members about their role and their experiences from the project!

Partner Institutions

In this project, 15 leading academic and non-academic institutions collaborate. Ten of these are based in Europe. The remaining five are based in Asia, Africa and Central America.

Project coordinator

Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)

NMBU is the project coordinator and at the Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Noragric, several researchers are involved. Associate Professor Dr. Ingrid Nyborg leads the project.

Project partners

Durham University, United Kingdom
Durham University is among the leading British universities, and Professor Alice Hills at the university’s School of Government and International Affairs leads our work package on Africa.

Jagiellonian University, Poland
Jagiellonian is Poland’s oldest university, established in 1400 on the remains of what were a university in Krakow. Professor Janina Czpaska leads a research team at the university that works on South Eastern Europe together with our Ruhr University Bochum partners and gender dimensions together with NMBU.

Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
Founded in 1962, the Ruhr University Bochum is among the largest universities in Germany. At the Faculty of Law, Department of Criminology, Criminal Policy and Police Science, Prof. Thomas Feltes leads the Eastern Europe work package in our project.

Norwegian Police University College (PHS), Norway
As the national police training institution in Norway, the PHS offers bachelor and master degree programs and conducts research into national and international policing. Chief Superintendent Tor Damkaas leads our work package for police training, and also manages our larger, independent international policing experts network.

University of Bremen, Germany
The University of Bremen developed from a teacher training institute to become a fully-fledge university with expertise in natural as well as social sciences and technology. the University’s Sarah Biecker works on our Africa studies.

University of Oslo, Norway
The Department of Informatics, University of Oslo (UiO) is responsible for coordinationg technology efforts across the project. The technology development work package is led by Arunima Sehgal Mukherjee.

Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Norway
NUPI is among the most pre-eminent foreign affairs institutions in Norway and was recently named as a top-ranking international affairs think tank by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program. From NUPI senior resercher Dr. Kari Osland, among others, has joined our project, working on community policing in comparison and South East Europe.

Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), Norway
NIBR recently joined the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences as part of its Centre for Welfare and Labour Research. Stian Lid, researcher at NIBR, works on this project’s regional focus on Africa.

Applied Intelligence Analytics (AIA), Ireland
AIA develops data analytics software solutions. In this project, Thomas Knape of AIA works on analytics to inform our police training research efforts.

Associated project partners

Comsats Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan
Dr. Badahar Nawab and Comsats at the Abbottabad campus in Pakistan collaborate with the project on the South Asia regional research package.

Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), Afghanistan
The NCA supports NMBU researchers in Afghanistan.

Universidad Del Valle Guatemala, Guatemala
To help us with our research in Central America, we have teamed up with Arturo Matute of Universidad Del Valle Guatemala.

University of Chile, Chile
Professor Hugo Fruhling of the University of Chile works together with our Central America research team.

Project manager

Ingrid L. P. Nyborg

Associate Professor

ingrid.nyborg@nmbu.no

The ICT4COP Center is headed by Ingrid Nyborg, Department of International Environment and Development Studies, NMBU. The ICT4COP Center Advisory Group will comprise institutional and individual members committed to furthering the aims and objectives of the ICT4COP Center.

For any inquiries, please contact the center at ICT4COP@nmbu.no

Department

Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Noragric

Time frame

1. December 2021 to 1. December 2026

Affiliation

ICT4COP - a European Commission Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation project

Center for Community-Based Policing and Post-Conflict Police Reform

Center for Community-Based Policing and Post-Conflict Police Reform

prosjekt

NMBU

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Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)