RT Article
T1 Leaving ‘home?’ Belonging, break-up and becoming in the police family
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 61
IS 2
SP 345
OP 363
A1 Atkinson, Colin
A2 Murray, Kath
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1753276721
AB This article considers the impact of police merger processes on officers and staff. The Railway Policing (Scotland) Act 2017 legislated that the Scottish functions and personnel of the British Transport Police (BTP) would be integrated into Scotland’s national police force. The journey towards this destination, however, has been protracted, problematic and now appears to be indefinitely postponed. Demonstrating the limits of the ‘police family’, our research provides important policy insights, demonstrating how a failure to account for distinct organizational cultures and occupational identities can damage the legitimacy of police mergers. Using data from a survey of BTP officers and staff in Scotland, we present our findings across three themes: belonging; break-up and becoming. We refract these findings through Bourdieusian theory.
K1 railway policing
K1 police merger
K1 police family
K1 Culture
K1 Scottish policing
DO 10.1093/bjc/azaa066