The purpose of this paper is to review previous research of police and policing in Slovenia. At the beginning of the paper, the authors draw attention to the changes that have occurred over the last two decades in terms of understanding the role of the police and policing in contemporary societies. The police have been increasingly attaining the status of a profession, while policing has been characterised as a knowledge-based activity. Therefore, the authors begin with defining police science as a research field of police and policing in contemporary society. This is followed by an analysis of the study of the police and policing from the perspective of reviewing prior literature on this subject. To this end, the authors analyse available sources in the Slovene language using two key words: „police“ and „policing“. In the final part of the paper, some research on the topic of policing in Slovenia is summarized. The paper concludes with a description of the importance of periodical publications for the development of research on policing (and police work) in Slovenia.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3728618
Residents of Ljubljana are satisfied with the work performed by private security guards. Residents’ satisfaction mainly depends on their trust in security guards’ work, the help and assistance provided by security guards, security guards’ attitude towards residents and residents’ experience with security guards’ work. Residents assess their work as stressful and dangerous, however, they still believe that security guards lack education and professionalism, which is a finding, common to many other studies.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3838954
In the last 150 years the Slovenian police have gone through the fundamental transformation processes that required many organizational and functional changes. In Slovenia, as well as in the rest of Europe, the police are changing into a young profession. We estimate that compared to other institutions of plural policing, the police have gone the farthest on the path of professionalization. They have developed all the key elements of the profession – longer and precisely prescribed specialized training for entering the police profession, which is exclusively performed within a police organization, code of ethics, professional publications and associations. In contemporary societies the police do not function alone, therefore they can further develop only in the interdependence with the development of other policing institutions: local municipal wardens, customs, judicial police, private security and detective activity. In the future, cooperation between these various actors in the field of ensuring security remains a key challenge, with a major part of the responsibility being borne by the national security policy.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3593194
Private security and private detective activities have been developing in Slovenia for some thirty years. During this period, various occupations developed, professional standards were defined, and education and training institutions were established. Occupations in the field of private security are better legally protected than detective profession. Among other characteristics of the process of professionalization, the professional ethics and professional associations are highly expressed, which is not surprising, because they are even prescribed by law. It is worse in the field of professional journals and public relations, because private security is still poorly recognized in society. For the successful further development and professionalization of private security, the field of education and training will have to be finally regulated, the unfair competition will have to be prevented, while private security personnel will have to be provided with better salaries.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3593706
The process of professionalization of the penological profession and prison staff in Slovenia can be divided into three periods. The first period, which lasted until 1968, was characterized by a strong military and militant influence that was reflected in authoritarianism and rigid relations between prison workers and prisoners. In the second period, which lasted until 1991, the focus on enforcement of criminal sanctions, shifted from security to treatment of prisoners. The last period of the professionalization of penological profession and prison staff began after the independence of the Republic of Slovenia in 1991, when the focus of Slovenian penology was directed towards the protection of rights of prisoners and their treatment in accordance with existing European standards.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3593450