Policing Police Violence

For many years both police violence and the complaints procedures have been important topics for debate in Britain and elsewhere. This book aims to provide a contribution to this debate by analysing the way in which police violence at present is and should be policed. On the basis of a case study in Glasgow the authors examine the phenomenon of police violence and the occupational reality in which it can be most adequately controlled. The present type of British complaints system was found to have little to offer to the victims of such incidents, and to be even counterproductive as a mechanism of control of police behaviour. This book discusses the main structural amendments which would enable the complaints procedure to provide a more adequate response. It is contended that the police themselves can and should play a major role in the control of police violence, and that they should have both the responsibility and opportunity for rectifying what went amiss. The implications of his study extend beyond the immediate Glaswegian, Scottish and even British context and are of wider interest to all those who are concerned with the issues and problems of police violence, policing police misconduct and police accountability in general.