197 How do German and French police forces know (differently)? 197 How do German and French police forces know (differently)? Bringing together different knowledge cultures through ethnographic explorations Thierry Delpeuch France Thomas Scheffer Germany (2012 Conference in Lyon) Introduction Throughout Europe and North America, police services are increasingly turning towards proactive, problem- orientated approaches. Some cultivate what is called ‘intelligence-led policing” — even down to the local level. The research hinges on this general trend in order to renew the understanding of the practical relations of local knowledge and organisational knowledge, especially in the field of security. It focuses on an important aspect of practical police work and scientific research alike: the translation and mobilisation of ad hoc (local) knowledge into organisational knowledge. The CODISP project analyses and compares the knowledge cultures that evolve with the prevalent demands of preventive, proactive and problem-orientated policing. It does so in order to initiate and support actual organisational investments into the strengthening of the ‘intelligence function’, as well as into the professionalisation and the ‘infostructure’ (Pan and Scarbrough 1999) of this now omnipresent branch of police work Our research looks at the ways in which local knowledge is gathered and translated — or should at times not be translated — into intelligence that matters for local security networks and policies. And, conversely, we aim to determine how and to what extent this intelligence that is rendered available organisationally can be subject to learning and appropriation by professionals who undertake operational and supervising missions. Moreover, the research assesses the impact of the practical implementation of organisational process, tools and systems, which can be considered as components of the ‘intelligence function’ inside police services, as well as the effect of the use by police organisations of knowledge which has been produced by other local actors who share information with the police. To put it simply, the project studies to what extent and how, within Germany and France, knowledge-led policing tools and systems can make their way into various epistemic cultures of police units, and how these tools and systems are employed by police to respond to new demands of problem- orientated, preventive and proactive policing? Intelligence doctrine in context According to the literature, collecting, managing, analysing and exploiting information related to security has become a central aspect in daily police work: to the extent that sociologists now describe police officers as ‘knowledge workers’ (Haggerty & Ericson, 2005, 2000, 1997). Similarly, information is considered as a ‘general paradigm of ordinary police activities’ (Brodeur, 2003). Police agencies are assessed as ‘learning organisations’ that cultivate more or less restricted knowledge economies. However, the police cannot be preconceived as one homogenous body. ‘Personal knowing’ and ‘organisational knowledge’