ABSTRACT

This chapter explores Nordic police students’ attitudes towards non-legalistic police work, based on a cross-national longitudinal survey (N = 1,438). The authors ask where police recruits in four different Nordic countries are placed along a legalistic-autonomous continuum and how exposure to field training affects their acceptance of non-legalistic, or Dirty Harry-inspired, measures. They find quite large differences between the four student populations. The Swedish police students are the most sceptical towards non-legalistic measures, while the Danes are the most positive. Danish and Icelandic police students gradually come to accept less legalistic procedures while enrolled at the academy, whereas there are small changes among the Swedish and Norwegian students. Based on a difference-in-difference model, the authors conclude that being exposed to field training during education makes students more positive towards Dirty Harry-inspired measures, but the effect is small. Country-specific cultural traits, such as views of legality and law obedience, seem to be important.