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Terrorizing police : Revisiting ‘the policing of terrorism’ from the perspective of Danish police detectives

Sausdal, David LU (2021) In European Journal of Criminology 18(5). p.755-773
Abstract

A common conclusion in criminology is that fears of terrorism are being (mis)used. The media have used them to market their products, politicians to promote themselves as protectors, and the police have profited through being granted increased powers and resources. Some scholars even argue that one outcome has been a growing militarization of the police. This article revisits this debate. It does so by taking an ethnographic look at how the war on terror has affected a number of Danish police detectives’ daily work. In doing so, the paper shows how the idea that police (mostly) benefit from the war on terror somewhat misses the mark – at least when seen from the perspective of frontline officers. As the article demonstrates, rather than... (More)

A common conclusion in criminology is that fears of terrorism are being (mis)used. The media have used them to market their products, politicians to promote themselves as protectors, and the police have profited through being granted increased powers and resources. Some scholars even argue that one outcome has been a growing militarization of the police. This article revisits this debate. It does so by taking an ethnographic look at how the war on terror has affected a number of Danish police detectives’ daily work. In doing so, the paper shows how the idea that police (mostly) benefit from the war on terror somewhat misses the mark – at least when seen from the perspective of frontline officers. As the article demonstrates, rather than mobilizing Danish detectives, terrorism most often makes them feel mired.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Detective/police culture, ethnography, fear, frustration, militarization, policing
in
European Journal of Criminology
volume
18
issue
5
pages
755 - 773
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85073966538
ISSN
1477-3708
DOI
10.1177/1477370819874449
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
95b01449-f489-49fd-9132-5cd89cde746c
date added to LUP
2021-06-09 12:53:19
date last changed
2022-06-30 10:59:38
@article{95b01449-f489-49fd-9132-5cd89cde746c,
  abstract     = {{<p>A common conclusion in criminology is that fears of terrorism are being (mis)used. The media have used them to market their products, politicians to promote themselves as protectors, and the police have profited through being granted increased powers and resources. Some scholars even argue that one outcome has been a growing militarization of the police. This article revisits this debate. It does so by taking an ethnographic look at how the war on terror has affected a number of Danish police detectives’ daily work. In doing so, the paper shows how the idea that police (mostly) benefit from the war on terror somewhat misses the mark – at least when seen from the perspective of frontline officers. As the article demonstrates, rather than mobilizing Danish detectives, terrorism most often makes them feel mired.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sausdal, David}},
  issn         = {{1477-3708}},
  keywords     = {{Detective/police culture; ethnography; fear; frustration; militarization; policing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{755--773}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{European Journal of Criminology}},
  title        = {{Terrorizing police : Revisiting ‘the policing of terrorism’ from the perspective of Danish police detectives}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1477370819874449}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1477370819874449}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}