ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the trends and particularities in post-socialist policing, and illustrates them through reference to developments in the Central European state of Slovenia. In discussing changes in the structures and processes of policing in the context of the transition of police organisations in Central and Eastern Europe and specifically in Slovenia, a typical post-socialist society, the chapter first considers the general characteristics, trends and changes in policing. Then it shift the focus of discussion from the state to the local level, since the transformational processes in policing have not taken place simultaneously and independently but have often, especially in the 'new democracies', proceeded from reforms at the level of the state to the regions and then to local communities. The chapter illustrates different tendencies that are accommodated in specific localities through reference to metropolitan policing in the particular context of Slovenia, a strategically significant Central European state located at the intersection of the Balkans and Western Europe.
