ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to policing and its relationship to issues of diversity, sexuality, exclusion, and inclusion. It argues that the relevance of studying diversity in police organizations rests on democratic grounds, outlines the relationship between policing and democracy, and explains how this relationship makes the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people and other minorities important. The tension between formal and informal aspects of policing is also discussed and the book is positioned as a study of culture, focusing on the production and reproduction of norms and values at the informal level. The stage is set for the rest of the book by showing that while the formal Swedish police organization is inclusive of all sexualities, exclusionary norms and behaviors still seem to exist in the informal organization. This informs the overarching research question of the book: How and under what conditions does the exclusion and inclusion of LGB officers and LGB sexuality take place in the Swedish police? The chapter also contains an overview of the rest of the book and a brief outline of the method of the study.
