Community policing in Danish “ghetto” areas: Trust and distrust between the police and ethnic minority youth
| Author | Tobias Kammersgaard,Thomas Friis Søgaard,Mie Birk Haller,Torsten Kolind,Geoffrey Hunt |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/17488958211017390 |
| Published date | 01 February 2023 |
| Date | 01 February 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/17488958211017390
Criminology & Criminal Justice
2023, Vol. 23(1) 98 –116
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/17488958211017390
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Community policing in
Danish “ghetto” areas:
Trust and distrust between
the police and ethnic
minority youth
Tobias Kammersgaard , Thomas Friis Søgaard,
Mie Birk Haller, Torsten Kolind
and Geoffrey Hunt
Aarhus University, Denmark
Abstract
Recent years have seen trends within police to use different forms of “community policing”
strategies that aim to foster closer relationships and trust with citizens, as well as an orientation
toward “procedural justice” in law enforcement practices. Based on 25 interviews with police
officers in two different police precincts in Denmark, this article explores the policing of ethnic
minority youth in so-called “ghetto” areas from the perspectives of police officers. In doing
this, we describe the specific challenges and strategies in implementing such policing methods
in neighborhoods where some residents display low trust or even hostility toward the police.
The article sheds light on the emotional, organizational, and practical challenges involved in
doing community policing in marginalized neighborhoods and the way in which this shapes how
community policing is being organized in practice.
Keywords
Community policing, deprived neighborhoods, ethnic minorities, procedural justice, trust
Introduction
The Nordic countries are known for police forces that enjoy very high levels of trust with
the population (Kääriäinen, 2007). This high level of trust in the police may be linked to
a high level of trust between citizens and to a high level of trust in government institutions
Corresponding author:
Tobias Kammersgaard, Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, Aarhus University, Tuborgvej 164, 2400
Copenhagen NV, Denmark.
Email: tok.crf@psy.au.dk
1017390CRJ0010.1177/17488958211017390Criminology & Criminal JusticeKammersgaard et al.
research-article2021
Article
Kammersgaard et al. 99
in general (Larsen, 2013). However, the Nordic countries are also becoming more hetero-
geneous with an increasing flow of immigrants and short-term migrant workers of a vari-
ety of ethnic and national backgrounds, which might pose challenges to police forces
traditionally accustomed to policing homogeneous societies (Ugelvik, 2016).
Several studies have shown that ethnic minorities perceive the police as less legiti-
mate and trustworthy compared with people from non-minority groups (Brown and
Benedict, 2002; Goldsmith, 2005; Tyler, 2005). A recent survey study with young people
in Norwegian high schools has pointed to how ethnic minority youth report a lower start-
ing point for trust in the police and that their trust is weakened additionally after coming
in contact with the police (Singh, 2020; see also Solhjell et al., 2019). In that regard,
Skogan (2006b) found that the impact of having a bad experience with the police is 4 to
14 times as great as that of having a positive experience. Likewise, in the other Nordic
countries (Sweden, Finland, and Denmark), recent studies have illustrated how ethnic
minority young people, especially those living in deprived housing estates, often have
negative experiences with the police; violence, prejudiced treatment, and a dispropor-
tional amount of stop and search have been reported (Haller et al., 2020a, 2020b;
Saarikkomäki et al., 2021; Wästerfors and Alm, 2020).
While the policing of minority populations in deprived housing areas has been dis-
cussed in scholarly publications in the United States (Chambliss, 1994; Moskos, 2009),
the United Kingdom (Bowling et al., 2003; Rowe, 2012), and Continental Europe
(Fassin, 2013), the literature describing this in a Nordic context is limited (Pettersson,
2013). Furthermore, studies in other contexts have usually centered on issues such as
police brutality, discriminatory practices, and zero-tolerance strategies (see Sollund,
2006), while this study will focus on “softer” forms of community policing. Although
much research today exists on how community policing approaches hold much potential
in terms of fostering crime prevention, compliance with the law, and community support
(Kappeler and Gaines, 2012; Skogan, 2006a; Trojanowicz and Bucqueroux, 1998), less
research has investigated the challenges in the practical implementation of such strate-
gies and how community policing is carried out in practice. Against this background, this
article draws on 25 interviews with police officers in two different police precincts in
Denmark, to provide a more in-depth understanding of the complexities of community
policing. We describe the different challenges faced by community police officers in
their encounters with (distrustful) ethnic minority youth, and we outline the everyday
tactics that officers develop to manage these challenges. We argue that the development
of such tactics comes to shape the way community policing operates.
Community policing in theory and practice
The term “community policing” has been called a “floating signifier” (Stenson, 1993),
because it can denote a wide range of different policing practices and strategies. A reason
for the lack of a precise definition should, according to Holmberg (2002), also be ascribed
to the fact that “one of the central features of community policing is exactly the adaption
of policing to local communities—a feature that must generate heterogeneity and thus
some difficulties in definition” (p. 32). Nevertheless, community policing often
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