PPR receives every year manuscripts (in 2019 it was 20% more than the previous year) from Researchers, Practioner and collaboratively from both segments of the universe of policing, spanning all continents across the globe. The Editorial Board, imbued by the mission that inspired its Founding Editor-in-Chief, a practitioner turned academic, is diligently engaged in promoting an active collaboration between practitioners and researchers and in disseminating the research outcomes to enhance the quality of policing which is inextricably intertwined with the quality of life.
The articles in this first issue of 2020 present the panorama of police work; the multi-faceted challenges the police face across the globe, no matter, how different their jurisdictions are politically, religiously, linguistically or any other way. In the first article, ‘Alternative dispute resolution and mediation of complaints against police in Australia and New Zealand’ (Mary Riley, Tim Prenzler & Nadine McKillop) the focus is on the role of alternative dispute resolution options and mediation employed in the complaints management systems of policing jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand. Police departments in these two countries are innovators in alternative dispute resolution. This is followed by ‘Exploring officer views of community policing in counterterrorism’ (Erin M. Kearns) that shows relationship building between police and communities can positively promote cooperation to address terrorism and more common crimes. .
The third contribution, ‘Looking back, I wouldn’t join up again’: the lived experiences of police officers as victims of bias and prejudice perpetrated by fellow staff within an English police force’ (Irene Zempi), explores experiences of police officers who encountered bias and prejudice on women, ethnic minority and LGB police officers. The fourth paper, ‘The “us vs them” mentality: a comparison of police cadets at different stages of their training’ (Rémi Boivin, Camille Faubert, Annie Gendron & Bruno Poulin), explores attitudes towards police use of force in Quebec (Canada) and specifically police cadets’ opinions about police interventions. The fifth article, ‘Switching on, switching off: reflections of a practitioner researcher examining the operational behavior of police officers’ (Ross Hendy), shows that New Zealand and South Australian police officers, undertaking qualitative research, need to learn to ‘switch off their police role’ and ‘switch on their researcher role’. The final article, ‘Co-production of cybersecurity: a case of reported data system break-ins’, (Anna Leppänen & Terhi Kankaanranta) addresses the issues of co-production of cybersecurity in Finland including citizens’ roles within the security network, and different levels of participation of several stakeholder groups in the formal security network.
We are beginning the Volume 21 in 2020 with a heartiest ‘Thank You to the Reviewers of 2019’. It will be noted we have been helped in 2019 by almost 800 Reviewers from all parts of the world. We in PPR deeply acknowledge and most gratefully recognize the important roles Reviewers play in maintaining the high quality of what we publish and the enviable international character and unparalleled global dimension of the journal.
PPR’s abiding mission is collaboration between police research and practice and enrichment of both through close cooperation. This issue carries an announcement that the 31st Annual Meeting of the International Police Executive Symposium, IPES, WWW.IPES.INFO, to which PPR is affiliated, on the theme of ‘Street Policing: Crime Prevention in a Risky World’, will be hosted by the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro, in this exciting city on August 16–21, 2020. As we do after every annual meeting, it will be our goal to produce a book and a Special Issue of PPR after rigorous peer review both publications will be products of collaborative efforts between researchers and practitioners.
In conclusion, we would also like to express our heartfelt thanks to the PPR Board of Editors. We most sincerely welcome Managing Editor Xiaochen Hu, Production Editor Mohsen Alizadeh, Special Issues Editor Jurg Gerber and Associate Production Editor Di Jia, who have recently occupied their positions. We also heartily welcome Girija Ilangovan, Production Editor in Taylor and Francis who has replaced Stephen Kirton who is leaving his role with PPR after being a strong pillar of strength and support to all of us for many years. We will sorely miss him.
1. Edited at the office of the International Police Executive Symposium, IPES, WWW.IPES.INFO
