Approaches for Police Participation Practice

In order to implement participation processes in police work, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Instead of trying to create new areas of work in the context of everyday police work, it is worthwhile to look for existing procedures and processes and to supplement and modify them. For example, the cooperation discussion in the run-up to conflictual protest situations is an already existing tool that can be significantly professionalized and intensified by changing the procedure design in the sense of constructive conflict management. Further examples include the further development of the position of independent citizen and police commissioners, who, despite legal containment, can do much more for the relationship between the police and citizens than just being a mediating complaint office. Municipal security and prevention work, whose lack, despite great potential for citizen participation, is an “old acquaintance”, is another field of action for participation processes.