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Policy Transfer and Zero Tolerance

Policy Transfer and Zero Tolerance. Trevor Jones Cardiff University. Key Themes. Little evidence of wholesale imports of US-style policing policies and practices. ‘Soft’ policy transfer – ideas, principles, symbols, rhetoric Understanding the local politics of control

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Policy Transfer and Zero Tolerance

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  1. Policy Transfer and Zero Tolerance Trevor Jones Cardiff University

  2. Key Themes • Little evidence of wholesale imports of US-style policing policies and practices. • ‘Soft’ policy transfer – ideas, principles, symbols, rhetoric • Understanding the local politics of control • Possibilities for resistance

  3. Background • ESRC Study • Studying specific areas of policy change • Perceived US ‘imports’ – policing, sentencing, corrections • Documentary research • Interviews with key players

  4. Context • Convergence in crime control and penal policy (Garland 2001) • Global penal expansion (Christie 2000) • Notions of ‘Americanisation’ (Wacquant 1999)

  5. What is Policy Transfer? ‘…the process by which knowledge of policies, administrative arrangements, institutions and ideas in one political system (past or present) is used in the development of policies, administrative arrangements, institutions and ideas in another political system’ (Dolowitz and Marsh 2000) Key questions in the study of policy transfer: • Who are the key actors? • Why do they engage in policy transfer? • What is transferred? • From where are lessons learned? • What are the different types of transfer? • What facilitates or constrains transfer?

  6. Studying Policy Transfer • Timing and policy similarity between jurisdictions • Identification of ‘transfer agents’ • Evidence that knowledge about developments in one jurisdiction has shaped policy developments in another

  7. ZERO TOLERANCE IN NEW YORK CITY • Quality of Life Policing • COMPSTAT • Performance management • Use of civil law • Media strategy • Charismatic leadership • Staffing increases

  8. ‘ZERO TOLERANCE POLICING’ IN BRITAIN 1. Cleveland Police • ‘Confident Policing’ in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough • ‘Robocop’ Ray Mallon 2. Metropolitan Police • Operation ‘Zero Tolerance’ (Kings Cross, London) • Crackdown on street begging (2000) 3. Strathclyde Police • Operation Spotlight (Glasgow)

  9. Levels of policy (Pollitt 2001) 1. Policy symbols/rhetoric (“Talk”) • General ideas/principles • Style/rhetoric • Primarily media & politicians • Explicitly rejected by many senior police officers 2. Policy instruments (“Decisions”) • Legislation, interventions, court rulings, formal policy statements • Within policing sphere, piecemeal/partial localised transfer • Broader ASB agenda (CDA 1998, ASBA 2003) 3. Policy implementation (“Action”) • Uneven implementation (ASBOs, curfews) • Elite resistance • Local politics

  10. Policy Transfer Agents 1. Senior police officers • NYPD (Bratton, Maple, Timoney) • Ray Mallon (1995) • Metropolitan Police (eg. Paul Condon, John Stephens) • HMIC (1995-6) 2. Politicians • Rudy Giuliani • Tony Blair, Jack Straw, Alun Michael, Ken Livingstone, Michael Howard, Anne Widdecombe, 3. Policy entrepreneurs • Think tanks (Manhatten Institute, IEA) • George Kelling • Bratton • Giuliani

  11. Policy Transfer Processes: Elite networking • Study trips • Official visits • Political party contacts • Policy evangelism • Conferences/seminars

  12. Limits to policy transfer 1. Political/institutional context • Post-Scarman policing • Operational independence 2. The local politics of policing • The messy realities of policy-making • Uneven cultures of control

  13. Understanding policy transfer • Within the realm of policing, limited evidence of ‘hard’ policy transfer, significant evidence of ‘soft’ transfer from USA • Stronger evidence of hard transfer (“decisions” and “action”) in government’s broader ASB agenda • Understanding local political contexts • Possibilities for resistance

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