Northern Ireland’s District Policing Partnerships and the Participatory Ideals

Abstract

The present article analyses the role of the District Policing Partnership Boards conceptualized by the Patten Report as a pivotal aspect of policing reform in Northern Ireland. It argues that, as originally envisaged, these Boards possessed a participatory capacity to transform rigid institutionalized relations of power between state and society. In outlining their potential the article aims to highlight the difference between traditional consultation mechanisms and more communicative‐based participatory policing. The article analyses the reasons why this more radical model was rejected and examines the impact of this on the operation of District Policing Partnerships. It concludes that the consultative mechanisms that emerged have so far contributed little to the structural transformation of police–society relations in Northern Ireland.