ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the politics of policing, with a specific focus on policing agendas in the two largest cities in the Netherlands: Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Both metropolises are considered metropolises facing 'glocal' challenges related to multicultural populations in urban areas, social inequalities in terms of household income, international harbours, crime and disorder. The chapter provides a summary of general trends in policing in the Netherlands in order to get an understanding of the tendencies towards divergence and convergence in urban policing in the metropolises under study. It illustrates various phases in policing in the Netherlands as affected by the political landscape in the Netherlands and the constitutional setting of the police. The chapter compares and contrasts policing agendas in Amsterdam and Rotterdam and concludes with an overview of their regimes and possible explanations for convergence and divergence in the politics of policing in these metropolises.
