NCJ Number
176149
Date Published
1999
Length
335 pages
Annotation
This book is a critical analysis of change in policing philosophies in response to a changing society, a comparison of policing methods and accountability and a discussion of the future of policing.
Abstract
The book investigates the social context of policing, in particular the ways in which philosophies of policing have changed since 1829 to accommodate changing societies, and the changing requirements and expectations that societies have of their police. The focus is on the problems of policing a modern, democratic, multicultural society that is both aware of and oriented towards individual rights, policing by consent rather than by the imposition and enforcement of regulations using superior force alone. The book analyzes policing philosophies and the relationship between societies and their police, and contrasts the way that these philosophies are put into practice in Australia, Great Britain and the United States. In addition, it examines the question of whether crime is a police problem or a social problem; the hidden cost and ethical concerns of modern policing; and ethics, discipline and the behavior of individual police officers. Notes, bibliography, index, tables