Police In Contradiction

This book formulates a theory of the origin and evolution of the police function, using both historical and cross-cultural analysis. It explains the incremental changes in the police function associated with the transition from kinship-based to class-dominated societies, and examines the implications of these changes for modern police-community relations. It suggests that the police institution has a double and contradictory function: at the same time, and in the same society, it seeks to be the agent of the people it polices and of the dominant class. The authors critique community policing and suggest how communities may be reconstituted in order to create a community police. A comprehensive bibliography enhances this study for students, teachers, and professionals in the fields of criminal justice and sociology.

Conflict of interest allegations have become a prominent part of the landscape of political and public sector ethics in Australia and overseas. The arena of policing has not been immune from this problem and this book is based on unique and unfettered access to ten years of internal investigation files held by Victoria Police. Through detailed analysis of actual complaint cases it gives the reader a comprehensive map by which to chart the particular kinds of interests involved, the nature of conflicts with official police duties, and the particular contexts from which conflicts of interest emerge. The book examines conflicts of interest across the private and public realm of the everyday lives of police officers. The author outlines how the problem of conflict of interest is an important aspect of police ethics, arguing that recognition of, and accountability for, conflict of interest may be a significant element in preventing upstream police misconduct and corruption. Conflict of Interest in Policing seeks to provide a conceptual and practical understanding of how integrity and trust must be integrated into the profession of policing through processes of active responsibility, rather than more traditional passive obedience to prescriptive rules.

Policing remains one of the most controversial areas of criminal justice. Recent years have seen major changes in every aspect of policing: new constructions of the police mission, new ways of delivering police services and new arrangements for police accountability. The police have had to respond to international terrorism, international organized crime, the new faces of migration and asylum, globalization and the reconstitution of societies in the post-Communist and Islamic world. This completely revised second edition argues that through these changes enduring and fundamental divisions can be traced. The book is relevant to those studying criminology, police studies, sociology, social policy and law, wherever their interests touch on the police.

Policing and corruption are inseparable. This book argues that corruption is not one thing but covers many deviant and criminal practices in policing which also shift over time. It rejects the 'bad apple' metaphor and focuses on 'bad orchards', meaning not individual but institutional failure. For in policing the organisation, work and culture foster can encourage corruption. This raises issues as to why do police break the law and, crucially, 'who controls the controllers'? Corruption is defined in a broad, multi-facetted way. It concerns abuse of authority and trust; and it takes serious form in conspiracies to break the law and to evade exposure when cops can become criminals. Attention is paid to typologies of corruption (with grass-eaters, meat-eaters, noble-cause); the forms corruption takes in diverse environments; the pathways officers take into corruption and their rationalisations; and to collusion in corruption from within and without the organization. Comparative analyses are made of corruption, scandal and reform principally in the USA, UK and the Netherlands. The work examines issues of control, accountability and the new institutions of oversight. It provides a fresh, accessible overview of this under-researched topic for students, academics, police and criminal justice officials and members of oversight agencies.

This book, as part of a two volume set, provides a broad overview of the current state of research on conflict management in law enforcement contexts globally, with a focus on contemporary challenges and opportunities in policing globally and ethical considerations. They cover a wide range of interactions between police and the public. This volume (I) focusses on the challenges and opportunities, examining topics such as police legitimacy, police culture, violence, mental health, community relations and crisis situations. Volume II focusses on police training and education and the learning settings needed for police to professionally tackle contemporary challenges. These books bring together leading research that is determining the state of the art in communication, de-escalation, use of force, and other contemporary issues in policing, with practical Key Takeaways in each chapter. They broaden the field by focussing on research which goes beyond the US, including in Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, the Republic of South Africa and Russia.

This book is a study of urban police and their interest in obtaining power as individuals within the organization and collectively within the community. Urban society, beset by increases in crime and violence and the growing irrelevancy of primary socializing agents, must look to the police, the institutionalized control agency, for the preservation of peace, order, and tranquility in the community. The dilemma of a democratic society is how to give the police sufficient power to perform their role effectively, while at the same time maintaining restraints on the police in order to prevent abuses to democratic principles. This book looks at the discretionary conduct of policemen and whether adequate accountability measures exist -- and, if not, whether they can be realized, while allowing for the necessary development of police capabilities in the performance of requisite functions. In its focus on the behavior of police officials and the relationship of the police bureaucracy to the urban political system, the work strives to be both descriptive and prescriptive. The author uses examples from a cross-section of American cities and focuses on Memphis, Tennessee to illustrate the political events and social factors which effect policing. Collective police power is measured by the extent of their discretionary authority and freedom from external controls, individual power is perceived by the rational strategies on the part of police officials striving to attain or consolidate their personal power positions in the organization. Implicit in the police's struggle for power -- both personal and collective -- is the existence of conflict with challenging institutional and environmental forces and actors.

This book aims to meet the need for an accessible introductory text on comparative criminal justice, examining the ways different countries and jurisdictions deal with the main stages and elements in the criminal justice process, from policing through to sentencing. Examples are taken from all over the world, with a particular focus on Europe, the UK, the United States and Australasia. The main aims of the book are to provide the reader with: a comparative perspective on criminal justice and its main components an understanding of the increasing globalization of justice and standards of the administration of justice a knowledge of methodology for comparative research and analysis an understanding of the most important concepts in criminal justice (such as inquisitorial and adversarial trial systems, policing styles, crime control versus due process, retribution versus rehabilitation etc) discussion of global trends such as the rise of imprisonment, penal populism, diversion, international policing and international tribunals an insight into what the essential ingredients of doing justice might be. This fully updated and expanded new edition of Comparative Criminal Justice takes into account the considerable advances in comparative criminal justice research since the first edition in 2004. Each chapter has been thoroughly updated and in addition, there is a new chapter on establishing the rate of crime in a comparative context. The rate of development in international policing and international development has been such that there is now an individual chapter devoted to each; and throughout the book, the role of globalization, changing both the local and the global in criminal justice arrangements, orientations and discourses, has now been given the prominence it deserves.

Key Terms and Concepts for Investigation provides students and practitioners with a compilation of concise, accurate articles on major topics pertaining to criminal, private, and military investigations. Each entry in this reference features a definition and then describes its function in investigation, including best practices and job characteristics. From financial crimes, digital forensics, and crime scene investigation to fraud, DNA, and workplace violence, this compilation helps students master investigation and offers seasoned investigators a resource to further their knowledge of recent developments in the field.