Changing Police Theories

This book is a thoroughly revised edition of the book previously published in 1999 and 2005, and discusses the history and philosophy of policing. It is also a comparative study of the practice of policing in Australia, Britain and U.S.A. The first part of the book shows that the divergent histories and constitutional and cultural differences of the three nations affect the styles of policing in each country. The second part discusses society and crime in the 21st century, analysing crime and disorder on the streets, problems involved in street policing, and the effect of new technology, for example CCTV, as a crime-fighting tool, and the pervasive involvement of drugs and alcohol in crime, particularly street crime. The third part of the book discusses the accountability of police in all aspects, in particular the accountability of police organisations to the government, the accountability of senior officers to the public and the accountability of individual police officers to the persons with whom they come into contact. The fourth part of the book is wholly new. It examines the changing relationship between police and the state, in particular with regard to policing terrorism, and changes in the nature of crime, brought about by the use of communication technology and the difficulties of prosecuting cases where Internet crime transcends jurisdictional boundaries. The final chapter looks ahead to 2029, the bicentenary of the establishment of first modern police force in London, and offers some thoughts on the future directions of policing.