ADVANCING POLICE GOVERNANCE: APPLYING ISO QUALITY STANDARDS TO RESOLVE SYSTEMIC CHALLENGES IN THAILAND
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/acsr.2026.8Keywords:
Police Governance Reform, Quality Management Systems, ISO 54002, Institutional Legitimacy, Process StandardizationAbstract
This qualitative study critically examines the systemic operational challenges within Thai police stations and explores the transformative potential of integrating ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 54002:2025 quality management systems. Using an interpretivist design, the research analyzes data from semi-structured interviews with 21 police executives and frontline officers, as well as a focus group of 10 governance experts. The rigorous empirical findings reveal five deeply entrenched institutional deficiencies: heavily fragmented standard operating procedures, an overreliance on individual workforce rather than sustainable organizational systems, chronic resource shortages, counterproductive quantity-driven performance evaluations, and uncoordinated digital applications. By applying ISO 54002 as a contemporary analytical lens, the study demonstrates that generic police reforms remain merely symbolic unless fundamentally linked to process standardization, citizen-centric outcomes, and robust accountability. Consequently, the article strongly advocates for consolidating disjointed digital tools into a unified core system, institutionalizing transparent operational protocols, and rebalancing performance metrics toward community trust and public value creation. Ultimately, adopting these international quality frameworks offers a strategic governance pathway to definitively shift Thai policing from short-term bureaucratic targets toward long-term sustainable institutional legitimacy.
Downloads
References
Alford, J., & O’Flynn, J. (2009). Making sense of public value: Concepts, critiques and emergent meanings. International Journal of Public Administration, 32(3-4), 171-191.
Bak, M. (2021). Lessons learned from anti-corruption interventions in the policing sector in Asia. Retrieved from https://knowledgehub.transparencycdn.org/helpdesk/Successful-anti-corruption-reforms-in-the-police-in-Asia_2021_PR.pdf.
Bayley, D., & Perito, R. (2011). Police corruption: What past scandals teach about current challenges. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace.
Boyne, G. (2002). Public and private management: What’s the difference?. Journal of Management Studies, 39(1), 97-122.
Bradford, B., & Jackson, J. (2018). Police legitimacy among immigrants in Europe: Institutional frames and group position. European Journal of Criminology, 15(5), 567-588.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Chan, J. (1996). Changing police culture. British Journal of Criminology, 36(1), 109-134.
Creswell, J., & Poth, C. (2018). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design Choosing among Five Approaches (4th ed.). California: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Dahlgaard-Park, S. (2011). The quality movement: Where are you going?. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 22(5), 493-516.
de Maillard, J., & Savage, S. (2018). Policing as a performing art? The contradictory nature of contemporary police performance management. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 18(3), 314-331.
Deming, W. (1986). Out of the crisis. Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Ferlie, E., Ashburner, L., Fitzgerald, L., & Pettigrew, A. (1996). The new public management in action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hammarberg, K., Kirkman, M., & de Lacey, S. (2016). Qualitative research methods: when to use them and how to judge them. Human Reproduction, 31(3), 498-501.
Haripin, M., & Siregar, S. (2016). The defects of police reform in Indonesia. Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities, 6(2), 53-64.
Hatch, M., & Cunliffe, A. (2013). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. (2023). Police performance: Getting a grip (PEEL spotlight report). London: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
Heras-Saizarbitoria, I., & Boiral, O. (2015). Symbolic adoption of ISO 9000 in small and medium-sized enterprises: The role of internal contingencies. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 33(3), 299-320.
International Organization for Standardization. (2015). ISO 9001:2015 - Quality management systems – Requirements (5th ed.). Geneva: International Organization for Standardization.
International Organization for Standardization. (2025). ISO 54002:2025 - Quality management systems - Guidance for the application of ISO 9001:2015 in police organizations. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization.
Kocak, D. (2018). Rethinking Community Policing in International Police Reform: Examples from Asia. London: Ubiquity Press.
Lipsky, M. (2010). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public services (30th Anniversary ed.). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Loader, I., & Walker, N. (2007). Civilizing security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Maguire, M., & Delahunt, B. (2017). Doing a Thematic Analysis: A Practical, Step-by-Step Guide for Learning and Teaching Scholars. The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 9, 33351-33514.
Manning, P. (2010). Democratic policing in a changing world. New York: Routledge.
Mastrofski, S., & Willis, J. (2010). Police Organization Continuity and Change: Into the Twenty‐first Century. Crime and Justice, 39, https://doi.org/10.1086/653046.
Moore, M. (1995). Creating public value: Strategic management in government. London: Harvard University Press.
Moore, M., & Braga, A. (2003). Measuring and improving police performance: The lessons of CompStat and its progeny. Policing: An International Journal, 26(3), 439-453.
Ngich, L., & Cho, W. (2020). Addressing police corruption in Southeast Asia: Politics, participation, and public management reform. Public Administration Issues, 5(Special Issue I), 9-34.
Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council. (2018). The 20-year national strategy (2018-2037). Bangkok: Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council.
Osborne, S. (2010). The new public governance?: Emerging perspectives on the theory and practice of public governance. London: Routledge.
Perkins, M., & Davies, M. (2025). Shifting oversight: the evolution of modern police performance management in England and Wales. Public Management Review, 27(12), 2861-2881.
Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2017). Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis - Into the Age of Austerity (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Poothakool, K., & Glendinning, T. (2013). Police reform in Thailand post-2006. International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 2, 371-384.
Punch, M. (2010). Police corruption: Deviance, accountability and reform in policing. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 4(4), 315-321.
Sugarman, B. (2010). Organizational Learning and Reform at the New York City Police Department. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 46(2), 157-185.
Tari, J. (2006). Improving service quality in a Spanish police service. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 17(3), 409-424.
Wynen, J., Verhoest, K., & Demuzere, S. (2016). Quality management in public-sector organizations: Evidence from six EU countries. International Journal of Public Administration, 39(2), 122-134.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Manassanan KANTASRI, Seksin SEEMAPOLLAKUL, Kasikarn DAMRONGRAT
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
.png)
