Samenvatting

To what extent have the Dutch police a distinct culture that corresponds with the image of police culture as it has been described in American studies of the 1960s and 1970s? A survey among 260 police officers shows that the Dutch police culture has a strong emphasis on mission, action, and cynicism. Other well-known elements, like conservatism and machismo proved to be less important. In accordance with the stress-coping theory police culture proved to be stronger if police officers were confronted with internal and external stress. Police culture is positively related with a crime fighting police style, and negatively with a service/guardian style. No relations could be found with a professional police style.