Nocturnal policing: a study of public, private and voluntary policing in the night-time economy

Abstract

This article draws attention to the nightlife environment as a peculiar temporal and spatial context through an exploration of public, private and voluntary policing actors’ roles in order maintenance at nighttime. Urban cities with a well-established night-time economy commonly experience intoxication or alcohol-fuelled disorder, anti-social behaviour and perceived unsafety, as well as the involvement of policing agencies striving to manage nightlife areas and nightlife attendees. The present study is situated within the context of urban Oslo, Norway and draws on fieldwork with public, private and voluntary organisations involved in the control of nightlife areas and attendees. Their work is characterised by managing dualities between facilitating for nightlife attendees, navigating intoxication and alcohol-fuelled disorder, identifying vulnerable individuals and situations filled with uncertainty. As such situations receive a particular focus by policing organisations at nighttime, the findings suggest that order maintenance and division of labour between public, private and voluntary agencies are filled with ambiguities specific to the temporal and spatial context of nightlife environments. I find that the policing actors’ management of nightlife attendees’ nuisance receives acceptance to a certain extent, and further argue that disorderly conduct changes during the circadian cycle. Drawing on these insights, I develop the term ‘nocturnal policing’ aiming to capture a temporally conditioned form of order maintenance work in nightlife environments.

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