Otto Adang Professor by Special Appointment of Security and Collective Behaviour

On 1 April 2016, Otto Adang became Professor by Special Appointment of Security and Collective Behaviour at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. Adang has held the chair in Public Order Management at the Police Academy of the Netherlands since 2004. The University chair is being funded by the Police Academy for a period of at least five years.

Public security is an ongoing concern for governments, police and many other organizations. Over the past few years, Europe has seen an upsurge in serious riots and civil disorder. The Netherlands is also at risk of large-scale disturbances to public order, which could seriously disrupt society and compromise public security. Knowledge is vital to ensure that we can prevent, or when necessary respond to, this kind of collective behaviour.

The aim of the special chair is to contribute to new theories, research, teaching and valorization of knowledge about the mechanisms that play a role in collective behaviour, and which enhance or detract from the security of situations during interaction between government and citizens, whereby theory and practice are closely intertwined. In the past few years, Adang has built up a body of unique knowledge on collective behaviour in relation to security. The Police Academy, which is keen to expand this knowledge and link it to academic information, sees this special chair as a golden opportunity.

Dr Otto M.J. Adang (1956) is a behavioural scientist. He has held a chair in Public Order Management at the Police Academy of the Netherlands since 2004. Adang is interested in aggression, reconciliation and collective behaviour in relation to public order enforcement. Since 1998, he has also headed a research programme he set up himself entitled Managing Dangerous Conflict Situations, which focuses on the interaction between police and citizens. Adang was a member of the Project X Haren committee.