How Do We Communicate?

Research Police Cafés and Focus Group Interviews among Police Officers in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County, Part 1

Abstract

Introduction: Police communication is also expected to be efficient, but the Hungarian Police currently do not have a communication strategy.

Objectives: The author of the study seeks to answer how police officers think about how they communicate with each other, their leaders, fellow agencies and media providers, and how the police as an organization presents itself to the outside world.

Methodology: The doctoral student first interviewed the staff of the Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County Police Headquarters using the research police café, a qualitative research method that has taken off in police science. In the two-session Police Café, he selected participants from criminal and law enforcement fields through heterogeneous sampling, who were able to express their opinions and insights on four predefined topics related to police communication. Then, also in the framework of a two-session semi-structured focus group interview, the crime and law enforcement leaders of the county police headquarters and local agencies spoke about internal and external communication, communication noise, and their problem-solving suggestions.

Results: I found that although the legislation on the communication service and external communication was revised and amended in 2023, there is still a lack of a comprehensive strategy against which complex requirements and guarantees can be formulated. The police officers and police leaders interviewed unanimously agreed that changes are needed in internal and external communication within the police.

Conclusion: In order to set short, medium and long-term organizational goals and tasks, a plan is needed that articulates the main direction and prepares for the expected and unexpected events of the future. This could be achieved with uniform requirements and regulations. In the future, the same research process will take place in Pest County, the results of which the author intends to publish in a new study.