There is ample literature devoted to the sociology of the police in the western world, yet little research
focuses on Arab countries. This study tries to fill this gap by offering an ethnographic study of Ras
Beirut police station, the first and the only police station in Lebanon that has been reformed according
to the community policing model. The academic works focusing on the importation of this model in
developing countries point out how difficult it is to implement and emphasize its negative outcomes due
to the local characteristics of each country. Fragmented on a sectarian and a political ground, Lebanon
remains a perfect field to explore this hypothesis. Indeed the divisions of the Lebanese state weaken
the interactions between the public and the private security forces. Nevertheless, many others factors,
beyond the religious and the political divisions, explain Ras Beirut’s failure. The internal dynamics at
work inside the police station and the influence of the patronage networks reduce considerably the
chances of its success.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Corruption, Crime, Sociology, Governance, Transnational Actors, and State