Faith in Policing: The Co-production of Crime Control in Britain

Abstract

Involving faith-based organizations (FBOs) in the production of crime control has been seen as a way of increasing efficiency, promoting accountability and improving trust and confidence in policing. In this article, which draws on qualitative research, we consider how police officers understand the role of faith in policing, engage with faith communities and work with FBOs to mobilize crime prevention activities. We demonstrate that any effective co-production of crime control that involves faith communities and FBOs requires police officers to negotiate a number of complex and multifaceted issues. We argue that the co-production of crime control has symbolic, moral and technical qualities which all need to be successfully negotiated to achieve its aims.