Policing and Sense of Place: ‘Shallow’ and ‘Deep’ Security in an English Town

Bradford, Ben; Girling, Evi; Loader, Ian; Sparks, Richard

Abstract

Much policy discourse concentrates on the contribution of police to keeping people safe. Often, this means minimising fear of crime. Yet, more expansive accounts stress the extent to which deeper-rooted forms of security and belonging might also be important ‘outcomes’ of police activity. Using data collected from a survey of residents of a mid-sized English town, we consider the extent to which evaluations of policing are associated with (a) a ‘shallow’ sense of security – roughly speaking, feeling safe – and (b) a ‘deeper’ sense of security – being comfortable in, and with, one’s environment. Focussing more accurately on the forms of safety and security police can hope to ‘produce’ opens up space for consideration of the ends they seek as well as the means they use

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 12, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 10, 2023
• Publication Date: Nov 10, 2023
• Deposit Date: Nov 3, 2023
• Journal: British Journal of Criminology
• Print ISSN: 0007-0955
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-3529
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Article Number: azad062
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azad062
• Keywords: Law, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous), Social Psychology, Pathology and Forensic Medicine
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/bjc