Officers at work in a multicultural police force

Purpose - The purpose of this exploratory paper is to examine cross-cultural perception and cooperation between black, Curacaoan and white Dutch police officers in The Netherlands. It also, compares the findings with similar research carried out in the Dutch Internal Revenue Service. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is a multiple ethnographic case study using participant observation, interviews and literature review. Findings - The paper finds a problematic cooperation between black Curacaoans and white Dutch in the police. These are based neither on cultural differences nor on the traditional white, male organization type; instead, they are related to the specific, organizational culture in the police and the hierarchical position of both groups in the organization. Research limitations/implications - This paper shares the general limitations of case-study research. However, the findings allow one to draw conclusions beyond this limited population and challenge researchers to engage in further study on cross-cultural cooperation in relation to organizational culture and to more general theories on in-group versus out-group behaviour. This line of research could focus on different ethnic groups, as well as other countries and organizations, and introduce longitudinal studies. Practical implications - The paper shows that the depth of the troublesome cross-cultural cooperation and the role of organizational culture can help police managers and administrators in decisions involving research, training, management and evaluation. Originality/value - The paper sees that, with most research in this area based on studies in the USA and UK and limited to the police force as such, this paper fills a gap in examining cross-cultural perception and cooperation in The Netherlands, including a comparative analysis with a similar government organization. The work also adds to the growing body of qualitative research and gives voice to officers at work in a multicultural police force.