International Cooperation of the Polish Police and the Theory of Public Goods

Abstract

The article discusses the involvement of the Polish police in international police cooperation in the context of the theory of public goods. The aim was to confirm the hypothesis that in today’s reality, cooperation between state authorities around the world is necessary to ensure security, which is regarded as a public good. An example of such involvement are actions taken by the Polish police. The article presents the assumptions of the theory of public goods and the notion of security as a public good. It is followed by an analysis of how the Polish police were involved in international cooperation from the beginning of the 1990s until today. The article presents peacekeeping missions of the UN, EU, OSCE and WEU in which the Polish police participated or are still participating. Then the author presents local, regional and global initiatives in which the police are involved at an operational and non-operational level, including activities coordinated by the EU, international police organizations and networks of liaison officers, as well as activities which are a part of bilateral cooperation. The presented overview of international cooperation undertaken by the police made it possible to confirm the initial hypothesis.