Preventive Policing (PREVPOL)

PREVPOL is a meeting point for academics and practitioners who are engaged in research, education or professional development in the field of preventive policing.

Published: 01/03/2022

We organize meetings and seminars where we present and discuss current research and development projects, and aim to develop perspectives, models, theories and knowledge that can help increase the understanding and quality of preventive policing.

PREVPOL is seeking the answers to the following questions

  • How are the problems of preventive policing understood and constructed, and what agencies take/get position as the responsible owners of the problems?
  • What rationalities and logics are at play in the definition, implementation and practice of preventive policing at policy-, management- and practise level?
  • At what levels (primary, secondary, tertiary) are preventive measures directed, and what role does the police play in the different levels?
  • What are the (intended and unintended) effects and consequences of different preventive methods and measures, and which ethical and legal boundaries can/should be drawn for preventive policing?

A selection of our ongoing research projects:

  • Foresight – a field of knowledge / method that is suitable for predicting future challenges in the development of crime? (Celine Pedersen and Annica Linn My Allvin)
  • Mapping and forecasting crime trends in smaller cities - relevance for Norwegian research and policing (Annica Linn My Allvin)
  • Dialogue as a preventive method in the police. (Elisabeth Myhre Lie)
  • Drug prevention in a historical perspective (Hjørdis Birgitte Ellefsen)
  • The preventive role and practice of the «police doctor» 1863-1920 (Hjørdis Birgitte Ellefsen)

We collaborate with:

  • Institutt for kriminologi og rettssosiologi, UiO
  • C-REX – Center for Research on Extremism, UiO
  • Arbeidsforskningsinstituttet AFI, OsloMet
  • Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
  • Politieacademie, Nederland

Members of the group:

Hjørdis Birgitte Ellefsen (leader), Politihøgskolen
Anne Rød, Politihøgskolen
Annica My Allvin, Politihøgskolen
Brita Bjørkelo, Politihøgskolen
Carlos Jose Calleja, Politihøgskolen
Celine Pedersen, Politihøgskolen
Christin Thea Wathne, OsloMet
Elin Kippe, Politihøgskolen
Elisabeth Myhre Lie, Politihøgskolen
Helene O. I. Gundhus, UiO/ Politihøgskolen
Henny Irene Bech, Politihøgskolen
Hild Rønning, Politihøgskolen
Ingvild M. Gjelsvik, Politihøgskolen
Inger Marie Sunde, Politihøgskolen
Tore Bjørgo, UiO/ Politihøgskolen
Trond Kyrre Simensen, Politihøgskolen