Two New Books on Police Stops in Europe

Researchers from WG3 have contributed to two books which resulted from COST Action research network on Police Stops. The first one, The Politicization of Police Stops in Europe,  focuses on the social and political contexts of police stops, and the second one,  Governing Police Stops Across Europe, has a comparative and thematic approach to examine distinct approaches to the regulation of police stops across Europe.

The first book focuses on wider Europe and the social and political context in which the police practice of stopping citizens emerges, develops and can be curtailed. It analyses public controversies about police stops, i.e. events in which conflicts emerge about how the performance of police stops is explained and justified.

Police stops are pervasive across Europe, but their legal regulation is heterogeneous, with differences in legal structure, accountability and deployment. The second book examines the regulatory frameworks governing police stops and how this controversial police practice is discussed in public debates. The themes covered include legal frameworks and police discretion; internal governance; external accountability and civilian oversight; possibilities for legal recourse; and the different roles of data and technology.

Papers

Aden H, Fazekas J, Lennon G, Mouhanna C, Himanen M, Piening M, Bosch A. (2024). External Accountability: The Limited Influence of Oversight Bodies on the Governance of Police Stops. In Governing Police Stops Across Europe, Ed. E. Aston, S. De Kimpe, J. Fazekas, G. Lennon & M. Rowe, (pp. 83-121).

Keskinen, S. and Himanen, M. (2023): Human Rights, Criminalisation of Migrants and Racism Debates: Public Discussions about Police Stops and Ethnic Profiling in Finland. In de Maillard, Jacques, Rowe, Mike & Verfaillie, Kristof (eds) The Politicization of Police Stops in Europe. Public Issues and Police Reform. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lennon G, Himanen M, Marks E, Mouhanna C. (2024). Stop in the Name of the Law: The Legal Regulation of Police Stops in Europe. Governing Police Stops Across Europe. (pp. 19-52).