Mollie Weatheritt – författare

In marked contrast to the decade before, the 1980s saw an enormous growth of sociological research on the police and on policing. Originally published in 1989, the chapters in this book stand as evidence both of the growth of police research in those years and its variety. Contributors were asked to take stock of research in their respective fields and to assess where policing research had got to and how it had arrived there. The resulting contributions range from broad conceptual reviews (chapters 1, 5 and 9) to concentration on specific pieces of empirical work, some of which was being reported for the first time (chapters 7 and 8). Other papers were concerned with the relationship – actual and potential – between research and policy (chapters 2, 3 and 4), yet others on charting and accounting for developments in policing policy and speculating about their likely effects (chapters 10 and 11). Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

In marked contrast to the decade before, the 1980s saw an enormous growth of sociological research on the police and on policing. Originally published in 1989, the chapters in this book stand as evidence both of the growth of police research in those years and its variety. Contributors were asked to take stock of research in their respective fields and to assess where policing research had got to and how it had arrived there. The resulting contributions range from broad conceptual reviews (chapters 1, 5 and 9) to concentration on specific pieces of empirical work, some of which was being reported for the first time (chapters 7 and 8). Other papers were concerned with the relationship – actual and potential – between research and policy (chapters 2, 3 and 4), yet others on charting and accounting for developments in policing policy and speculating about their likely effects (chapters 10 and 11). Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

Modern police forces are large and complex organisations, expected to perform a diversity of tasks and are under pressure to account for their activities in ways which satisfy a variety of constituencies. Originally published in 1986, this book documents some of the changing demands and pressures on the police at the time. It shows how the police were responding and assesses the extent to which they were open-minded and receptive to change. The book brings together in one place and critically reviews information on a considerable number of police operational and management initiatives. It describes and assesses recent innovations and experiments in two main areas: patrol and crime prevention. It describes attempts to make the police more efficient and effective and to measure the results of what they do. It documents the interest of central government in what the police do and shows how this can affect police operational priorities.Throughout, this book is concerned to analyse police practice and attitudes and to set them against a wider background of pressures to improve police effectiveness.