NCJ Number
179834
Date Published
1998
Length
185 pages
Annotation
After discussing the theories and principles of policing, this book provides instruction in how to put principled policing into practice, using both positive and negative examples from British policing in critical times.
Abstract
The author advises that the primary and guiding political principles of policing should be concerned with and directed toward the theory of the common good of society. He argues that the aim of policing is not to enforce the law and coerce citizens for the law's own sake, but rather to do so for the common good, which should place freedom above all other political values. Issues of principled policing are examined in the rationale behind the policing of the occupied territories during the Second World War, as well as in the tactics used in the policing of the picket lines in the 1984-85 miner's strike in Britain. The book draws lessons from the standing of the People's Liberation Army in China and from the conduct of the U.S. National Guard during the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the 1960's. The book makes clear that policing cannot be understood in isolation from the political, ideological, social, and cultural environment in which it operates; however, policing has its own role to play in any circumstance, both positively and negatively, and is not driven simply by external forces. In discussing the events surrounding the Brixton disorders in Britain in the early 1980's, the author illustrates how decisions and actions of the police contributed to the problems of social order in inner cities. Overall, the book shows that effective policing stems from the transfer of sound, just, and humanitarian principles into police practice. A 94-item bibliography and a subject index