NCJ Number
70938
Date Published
1979
Length
278 pages
Annotation
Written by a British police officer, this book examines the police role in modern Western democratic societies, with emphasis on the British police system, and proposes models for future policing.
Abstract
The book's main theme is that the social changes of the last 150 years have not been fully reflected in the philosophy underlying the police's accepted attitudes and activities. An examination of the nature of policing focuses on the exercise of authority, police ethics, policing styles, the demeanor of police officers, and the doctrine of minimum force. Subsequent chapters consider political influences on the police, weapons, police culture, intellectuals and the police, vigiliantism, the media, and technology. The book's next section examines several aspects of crime, including its inevitability, strategies for dealing with it, and terrorist crime. The final section develops models for the future of policing in a democratic Western society. Essential principles of such models, new criteria, and objectives for future policing are presented. The discussion concludes that the police hierarchy needs to change from its rigidity and undue orthodoxy. The traditional organizational divisions of operations, crime, and traffic must change to accommodate new elements, such as technological and psychological groups. Police philosophy should change to reflect recognition and understanding of the crucial nonpolice contribution to policing and to cope with the growing proportion of leisured people in the population. Crime prevention, terrorism, and changing technology will also require increasing attention from the police. Chapter reference notes and an index are included. Nine appendixes present British police regulations, an examination of the psychological role of the British police, a description of an effort to create a 'village' within a city, and related materials.