Policing and resilience: A comparative assessment of police organisations’ histories and futures

Tariro Mutongwizo1
1University of New South Wales, Kingsford, Australia

The development of police organisations from the very first Peelite framework has seen vast advancements globally. The debate on the implanting of policing structures through colonialism endures. Arguments have been put forward to examine the suitability of the colonial police on former colonies and the extent to which modelling modern police services on these is appropriate. This paper is more interested in comparing in which ways the current police in former colonies have advanced and how this affects each police organisation’s capacity to work with communities to build resilience. Case studies of the police in sites in Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe will be explored. The research deliberately compares disparate former colonies in order to assess the current practices of these police services, bearing differences in mind. The research is also interested in noting the directions taken within police organisations. While practices rooted in colonial organisation are observed in some instances, it is evident that each country has taken strides in new forms of police organisation and governance. The importance of the research lies in understanding the variances between these police organisations and the ways in which they each collaborate with local communities under diverse state influences.


Biography:
Dr Tariro Mutongwizo is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Law. Tariro holds a PhD in Criminology from the University of Cape Town. Her research interests include multidisciplinary approaches to exploring non-state governance of security, the governance of contested spaces and the security of vulnerable and marginalized groups.  She has published on the intersection between state and non-state actors in the governance of security in Africa.