Policing vulnerable people

Vulnerable people, in their capacity as victims, witnesses or offenders, are involved in 75% of police interactions in most international jurisdictions. It is only natural, then, to assume that consideration of community members’ vulnerabilities in everyday police work dominates discussions of policing business and quality assurance. We turn our attention to current debates as to how police interact with vulnerable people, and to the policies and legislation that underpin these interactions. This paper outlines the major international paradigms that address the definitional nature of vulnerability, and discusses the ways in which applied policy discussions are relevant to police practice in the field. The authors reached out to scholars on policing vulnerability to contribute illustrative vignettes on the questioning and positioning of vulnerability at the centre of contemporary policing debates.