During the annual Science and Police conference, which took place at the Police Academy in Apeldoorn this time, coordinators Kim van Erp (VU Amsterdam) and Miriam Oostinga (UT) successfully presented the ambitions of the impact coalition Creating Secure Societies (CSS). The aim of the conference, entitled 'Science and police, a natural connection', was to explore how the network of scientists, policy officers and the police can strengthen each other as a knowledge ecosystem.
During the conference, several stories and needs from the police matched well with CSS's ambitions. For instance, the police note that many police issues are quite complex, research is currently very fragmented and that results of research are still too rarely actually used in the police force. In addition, there is a need for early collaboration between police and science and for collaboration that is sustainable and does not stop after each project.
Miriam and Kim spoke to conference attendees about what they see as the most important complex societal security issues, what expertise is needed for this and who they see as important stakeholders to involve in the coalition.
Interested in staying informed or contributing to the development of CSS? Please contact Kim van Erp, k.j.p.m.van.erp@vu.nl and/or Miriam Oostinga m.s.d.oostinga@utwente.nl.
