Who is in control

Abstract

The Netherlands have recently created a number of new agents of social control. These include the stadswachten (city wardens) and the politiesurveillanten (police patrollers). Both primarily patrol in city centres, with the police patrollers being a more junior rank in the regular police, but the city wardens a separate uniformed presence. Both have, primarily, an order maintenance and preventive/regulatory function. Summarising research on their structure, organization and effectiveness across a number of cities (including questionnaires to the general public and interviews with the social control agents and those who have had contact with them), it is suggested that though both seem to have a positive effect on fear of crime in these areas (and on some instances of nuisance/petty crime), city wardens find it is easier to interact with both police and public to do their job.