"It's All About Teamwork and Collaboration" : Police Officers’ Perceptions of Collaboration Exercises
Juhola, Hanna (2024)
2024
Master's Programme in Security and Safety Management
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2024-12-31
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2024122711692
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2024122711692
Tiivistelmä
This thesis examines police officers' perceptions of collaboration exercises between the police, the Border Guard, and the Defence Forces in Finland. Collaboration between organisations in responding to crises is becoming increasingly important as crises become more transboundary. Crises are increasingly crossing national and organisational boundaries. These boundaries are complex and more challenging to predict.
Collaboration exercises are examined with the following research questions: How do police officers perceive the usefulness of collaboration exercises in creating and strengthening interagency relations? What characteristics of effective exercises can be identified? Are there any context-specific characteristics that emerge? The goal is to study whether police officers who have participated in the exercises view them as a useful and efficient method of fostering collaboration.
The data for this study was gathered using semi-structured interviews. Eleven police officers from the Helsinki Police Department were interviewed about their experiences participating in collaboration exercises between the police, the Border Guard, and the Defence Forces. The interviewees have, on average, 23.5 years of work experience in the police and have participated in collaboration exercises in at least two distinct roles. Many of them also have experience planning and organising the exercises. Theory-guided content analysis was used to analyse the interview data.
Findings suggest that the collaboration exercises held by the three Finnish security authorities are seen as useful tools for increasing collaboration between organisations. Successful exercises include the following features: participants are challenged to break path-dependent thinking, there are opportunities to make mistakes, scenarios are realistic, and discussions and debriefings are held after the exercises. Collaboration between the organisations is described as seamless, open, and exceptionally good compared to international counterparts. Interviewees believe that collaboration exercises are essential to prepare for potential crises and to create the trust and collaboration needed to respond to them.
Collaboration exercises are examined with the following research questions: How do police officers perceive the usefulness of collaboration exercises in creating and strengthening interagency relations? What characteristics of effective exercises can be identified? Are there any context-specific characteristics that emerge? The goal is to study whether police officers who have participated in the exercises view them as a useful and efficient method of fostering collaboration.
The data for this study was gathered using semi-structured interviews. Eleven police officers from the Helsinki Police Department were interviewed about their experiences participating in collaboration exercises between the police, the Border Guard, and the Defence Forces. The interviewees have, on average, 23.5 years of work experience in the police and have participated in collaboration exercises in at least two distinct roles. Many of them also have experience planning and organising the exercises. Theory-guided content analysis was used to analyse the interview data.
Findings suggest that the collaboration exercises held by the three Finnish security authorities are seen as useful tools for increasing collaboration between organisations. Successful exercises include the following features: participants are challenged to break path-dependent thinking, there are opportunities to make mistakes, scenarios are realistic, and discussions and debriefings are held after the exercises. Collaboration between the organisations is described as seamless, open, and exceptionally good compared to international counterparts. Interviewees believe that collaboration exercises are essential to prepare for potential crises and to create the trust and collaboration needed to respond to them.