Curated Policing: Unpacking an Emergency Response Vehicle and Its Material Imaginaries

Abstract Policing relies not only on human officers but also on numerous material objects—from radios and weapons to medical equipment and evidence kits. This study maps the contents of a Norwegian emergency response vehicle, filled with tools and devices designed to prepare the officers for future incidents. Decisions about what to include in the car are made by numerous actors, such as policymakers, managers, technical experts, and professional police communities. The material artifacts embody assumptions about the incidents they address, reflecting what is here termed five material imaginaries of policing—of obstacles, dangers, injuries, crimes, and networks. The vehicle and its contents assigning the patrol certain responsibilities while exempting it from others, is here coined as curated policing, narrating the core duties of the police.