Policing the police

Sammanfattning

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how local police managers in the Swedish Police Authority navigate the relationship between centrally designed management control and local operational practice. Methodology: The study follows a qualitative, abductive case study design, using the Swedish Police Authority as the empirical setting. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four police managers positioned at different levels of the organisational hierarchy. The interviews were conducted in Swedish, recorded, transcribed, and analysed through thematic analysis. Theoretical perspectives: The study draws on an integrated theoretical framework consisting of management control perception, sensemaking, and professional identity. These perspectives are used to analyse how centrally designed control systems are perceived by police managers, how central directives are interpreted and translated into practice and how professional identity shapes the reception and enactment of formal governance. Empirical foundations: The study is based on four in-depth interviews with police managers at different hierarchical levels within a region of the Swedish Police Authority. The material provides insight into how centrally formulated governance is perceived, interpreted, and translated across the organisation. Conclusions: This study concludes that central governance within the Swedish Police Authority is shaped by how police managers perceive, interpret, and translate formal directives across hierarchical levels. The findings suggest that management control systems may be experienced as enabling when they provide context and discretion, but coercive when they appear disconnected from operational realities. Police managers address this ambiguity through lateral sensemaking with peers, while their professional identity influences how they judge and adapt formal governance. The thesis therefore shows that central directives are not simply implemented, but are filtered through managerial interpretation, professional judgement, and local operational conditions.