Strengthening democratic processes

Establishing democratic processes in police-citizen affairs can be considered as major challenge of 21st century policing. Current incidents of citizens complaining about disrespectful, unprofessional, or even violent policing show that managing citizen complaints should not start, when a case is brought to court, but way before, e. g. in form of police oversight, police complaint systems, or restorative justice. Indeed, it should consider the special needs and circumstances of persons with ethnic minority background that are often unaware of their democratic rights and obligations. The present book gives an overview of legal bases and approaches of police oversight and restorative justice as well as best practice approaches of fostering dialogue between police and (ethnic minority) citizens. Moreover, latest research and cases of Germany, Austria, and Hungary are introduced as well as approaches from the US and Australia.