Title: Operational knowledge of patrolling police officers in Sweden: management implications

Authors: Stefan Holgersson, Petter Gottschalk, Geoff Dean

Addresses: Swedish Police Authority, Stockholm S-10675, Sweden. ' Norwegian School of Management, Nydalsveien 37, Oslo N-0442, Norway. ' School of Justice Studies, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane Qld 4001, Australia

Abstract: Patrolling police officers need a solid knowledge base working in different locations and situations. Inductive and deductive research identified 31 descriptive statements, which represent knowledge categories for police officers on the street. In this paper, the 31 categories are classified into three cluster sets for knowledge dimensions. The clusters are labelled cognitive dimensions, technical dimensions and social dimensions, respectively. From a police management perspective, developing police officers along these very different dimensions represents a substantial challenge.

Keywords: cognitive knowledge; technical knowledge; social knowledge; crime scene assessment; case development; knowledge application; inductive research; police management; observations; interviews; operational knowledge; police patrols; police officers; Sweden.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2008.015906

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2008 Vol.5 No.1, pp.49 - 62

Published online: 02 Dec 2007 *

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