A Phenomenographic Study of the Community-Oriented Policing in Iran’s Police (Contexts, Features and Implications)

The law enforcement force of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been formed with the aim of establishing order and security and ensuring individual and community well-being. In the last two decades, Iran’s police have implemented the community-based approach to achieve its goals, but now, it has faced some challenges. Understanding the areas, features and consequences of this approach and analyzing it from the perspective of globalization is the main purpose of this study. This is a fundamental research in which qualitative method has been utilized with phenomenological approach. The statistical population in this study is policing practitioners. In this study, 20 people from the statistical population have been selected through purposeful sampling technique. The collection of information and data in this study has been carried out through conduction in-depth interviews. Data and information were analyzed using qualitative content analysis technique. The obtained results indicate that Iran’s Police have an tendency towards community-oriented policing approach in terms of social, economic, ideological-discourse, and legal-managerial perspectives. Features of the community-oriented approach in Iran’ Police has three systematic and interdependent sections; namely "cognitive", "policy-making and planning" and "operational". The consequences of this approach are divided into the two parts of social and institutional (organizational) approached, and each has positive and negative aspects. The community-oriented approach in the Iran’s police does not definitively follow globalization. There are signs of adaptation to globalization, but it corresponds to the phenomenon of glocalization and is understandable in its context.