From Critical Outsiders to Integration? Reflections on the Development of Nordic Police Research

A decade ago, the question of the future of Nordic police research was raised by a handful of scholars (Granér & Kronkvist, 2015). Their perspectives on future developments varied somewhat and they discussed both possibilities and challenges. The main themes raised proved to be academic freedom and whether this affected the quality of research; topics covered or missed by research; research methods used; the domination of Norwegian and Swedish research and finally the lack of comparative Nordic studies. This article considers, based on the themes above, the state of Nordic police research in 2025. The main data for this is based on a manual review of studies of policing in three Nordic journals. These journals are the Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing (2014–2025), Nordisk tidsskrift for kriminalvidenskab (2015–2025) and the Nordic Journal of Criminology (2015–2025). The primary findings of this article are that there has been a substantial growth in research. However, Denmark remains the odd one out in Scandinavia with little research undertaken in this area. Additionally, a significant part of the growth achieved outside of Denmark is linked to the institutions of police education and the police system (insiders). Earlier, a researcher with a police background was very unusual; today it is more common. It might then be asked how this affects the research. In 2025 police research is thematically much more diverse than a decade earlier. However, comparative studies in the Nordic countries are still conspicuously absent.