Concept of 'police violence'

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify an extremely complex phenomenon which is in the scientific and professional literature known as police violence. It is justified by the fact that this issue has not been sufficiently discussed in local literature, particularly in the context of scientific-theoretical and empirical research on this phenomenon. Having in mind that the theoretical and working definition of the subject matter of this research is the first and indispensable step in understanding the indicators of the phenomenon under consideration, the author first considers the conceptual definition of police violence in an endeavor to remove, at least partly, certain ambiguities and increase the interest of the academic community to research this phenomenon, not only in the form of theoretical analysis but also through empirical research in Serbian society. The need for such research primarily stems from the fact that there is an insufficient number of empirical studies that would systematically and comprehensively research the phenomenon of police violence in Serbia. Consequently, numerous indicators of this phenomenon and its extent are mainly the result of assumptions and arbitrary assessment.

Smisao pisanja ovog rada pronalazimo u potrebi pojašnjenja izuzetno kompleksne i nadasve delikatne pojave, u naučnoj i stručnoj literaturi poznate kao 'policijsko nasilje'. Tim pre što u domaćoj literaturi do sada nije bilo dovoljno reči o ovom problemu, bar ne u smislu njegovog empirijskog sagledavanja. Imajući u vidu da definisanje predmeta istraživanja predstavlja prvi i neizostavni korak na putu do spoznaje pokazatelja proučavane pojave, činilo nam se važnim da u ovom radu razmotrimo sam pojam 'policijskog nasilja'. Težnja nam je bila da na taj način bar delimično otklonimo određene nedoumice u tumačenju ove pojave, ali i da ujedno povećamo zainteresovanost naučne javnosti za istraživanje nasilja policije u našem društvu, ali ne samo u vidu teorijske analize, već i kroz njegovo empirijsko istraživanje. Potreba za tim prevashodno proizlazi iz činjenice da u našim uslovima do sada nisu u dovoljnom broju sprovedene takve naučne studije kojima bi se sistemski i sveobuhvatno istražilo nasilje policije, tako da su brojni pokazatelji njegove pojave i obima uglavnom rezultat nagađanja i slobodnih procena.