Gonzalez, DavidShields, Patricia M.2018-02-122018-02-122018-03Gonzalez, D., & Shields, P. M. (2018). Peace in the neighborhood: A challenge to policing - Defining peace. Presented at the American Society for Public Administration Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado.https://hdl.handle.net/10877/6974The policing literature has not critically examined a core concept – peace. This paper is an initial step to address this omission. We borrow from recent scholarship in security studies, which is currently re-evaluating its working concept of peace. Negative peace or the absence of war (or violence) dominates military studies and policing. This concept focuses on the short run and fails to take into account the relational nature of peace. We argue that the limits of negative peace can be addressed with a robust notion of positive peace (which focuses on relationships, social justice, and emphasizes the long run). We introduce the notion of organiational ambidexterity, a concept borrowed from business and military studies, to explore how policing can incorporate notions of positive and negative peace into its discourse and practice.Text23 pages1 file (.pdf)enpeacepolicingmilitary studiesPolitical SciencePaper