About the project
The project examines how knowledge-based policing is developed and enacted in police intelligence work. It focuses on intelligence analysts and how different forms of knowledge are produced and used in their everyday work. The study considers how evidence-based policing, experiential knowledge and intelligence are understood and mobilised in policing. It also examines how organisational and technological conditions shape intelligence work, including how knowledge moves across the police organisation and how analysts make their assessments relevant to others.
The study is conducted in Norway and Denmark. Both countries have institutionalised intelligence work within their police organisations and share several characteristics as Nordic policing systems, while differing in organisational structures, reform trajectories and professional traditions. The comparison provides an opportunity to examine how knowledge-based policing is interpreted and enacted in different organisational contexts.
Method
The project is qualitative and is based primarily on semi-structured interviews with employees working in intelligence-related functions in the police in Norway and Denmark. It also draws on document analysis and observations from courses, seminars and conferences related to intelligence and analysis.
Objectives
The aim of the project is to develop a better understanding of how knowledge-based policing works in practice. The project examines in particular how knowledge is produced and used in intelligence work, and how organisational, technological and professional conditions shape this work. A central starting point is that knowledge is not only a question of whether information exists, but also whether it is accessible, can be interpreted, and is perceived as relevant and credible.
