Ronald is Associate Professor of Public Administration at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) and Senior Researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR).
As a public administration scholar, his work centres around community policing, plural policing and local security governance. Over previous years, he has undertaken research on community police officers, public-private partnerships, police-citizen relations, police volunteers, security guards, municipal policing and restorative justice interventions within police settings.
Another focus in Ronald’s studies is the collaboration between the police and public or mental health agencies. He is particularly interested in the policies and practices of these collaborations, including how law enforcement and public health interventions impact social problems such as vulnerable people, domestic violence and unruly youth.
At NSCR, Ronald takes part in the What works in Policing: towards evidence-based policing in the Netherlands program, which aims to provide scientific interpretation and substantiation for police practice and to analyse (new) issues in the field of public policing. He also teaches in the Public Administration master Governance of Security at VU and is head of the Policing and Security research group in the same department.